The Blood Between Us
by UpirNoir
Summary: The battle with Incognito has awakened an ancient vampire. One who knows Arucard as family and wants to know about the residents of Hellsing manor. Yuri content.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer information: All characters belong to their proper copyrighted owners.  This has been given the R rating as there will be, in the upcoming chapters some violence and other adult themes.  This timeline takes place after the Incognito incident after the series end.  I have not read the Manga and the assumptions regarding Arucard and his 'age' were based upon a now defunct fan site called "Intensity-Integral Shrine".  If you have not seen the following website Solid & Etc you should get there as soon as you can.  It is some of the most astonishing Hellsing inspired art I have ever seen.  Reviews and feedback are welcome.  The character of Camilla is based upon the vampire story written in the Victorian era ( I cannot recall either the title or the author) about a 'dark eyed female' who befriended young women and they began to fall ill with a type of anemia.

****

**The Blood Between Us**

****

**Prologue**

****

"What did you think the world was going to become in your absence?  Of all undead things, you should know that the living world buds, blossoms and dies in endless cycles when we sleep.  That includes our lesser cousins."

"Do you still believe them to be lesser?  Each time I awake I find that they evolve in some surprising ways.  Someday they may actually be able to master us."

The deep chuckle indicated that the other conversationalist did not share that opinion.

"What news of my favorite brother?  Has my kin managed to stay out of trouble in my absence?"

"Ironic that you should think that our lesser cousins could ever master us and then ask about him.  He is currently a servant to the Hellsing organization.  To our surprise, it appears to suit him.  Some among us have approached him asking if he should wish to be freed of his servitude, we would assist.  Yet, he remains."

"Hellsing…Why does that name strike me as so familiar?"

"The entire line of Van Helsing?  Mythical hunters of our breed."

"Ahh, yes, the one, hunted my little brother as I recall.  Schoolboy crush is more like it.  Obsessive fascination…He loved us and hated himself for finding us so fascinating.  It cannot be the same man who runs that unless he gave into the temptation…Tell me, how did my kin come to hunt our kind on behalf of this Hellsing organization?"

"We are unsure of how he came to be in their service.  I believe he was captured.  Some kind of deal ultimately between him and the son of his hunter, or perhaps his hunter, he is, as I said, oddly suited to the position.  Van Helsing's granddaughter now oversees the Hellsing organization and also serves with the Royal Order of Protestant Knights.  The young master hunts a new breed for her.  This new breed, we believe our lesser cousins make them in an effort, one would imagine, to emulate our power.  The new breeds of vampire are simply blood thirsty killing machines, as if that were our only claim to power, although..."

"Long have our lesser cousins feared us for what they cannot understand.  In their primal worldview we are the aberration because of our physiology.  They can consider themselves the top of the food chain because they consume the charred flesh of lesser beings but we are the monsters for drinking the nutrient rich blood.  We are monsters for reasons that have little to do with our nutritional habits."

"Of lesser beings?"

"Touché'.  I am not surprised that is all their efforts have yielded.  I don't think they are ready yet to deal with the 'moral' implications of consuming their own.  Such fragile psyches they have.  I cannot believe he works well with them; he was so disdainful of their fragility in the face of his power.  Could another of Van Helsing's descendants have stooped so low as to try and imprison us?"

"We are unsure, he does not discuss it.  He has sired recently."

"He sired?  In the truest sense?  Hrrrm.  Perhaps he has grown up a bit."

"I believe you will be quite surprised when you see him again."

"No doubt, I will.  How many years has it been?"

"Just under 75, 73 to be exact.  Do you thirst?"

"I do. I trust that this new age has just as many undesirables as those past?  Those predators who prey on the weaker?  Let us hunt then the hunters."

"My liege, I hope you do not mind, I have taken the liberty of already providing your meal."

"Ahh, Marcus, you are far too good to me."


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer information: All characters belong to their proper copyrighted owners.  This has been given the R rating as there will be, in the upcoming chapters some violence and other adult themes.  This timeline takes place after the Incognito incident after the series end.  I have not read the Manga and the assumptions regarding Arucard and his 'age' were based upon a now defunct fan site called "Intensity-Integral Shrine".  If you have not seen the following website Solid & Etc you should get there as soon as you can.  It is some of the most astonishing Hellsing inspired art I have ever seen.  Reviews and feedback are welcome.  The character of Camilla is based upon the vampire story written in the Victorian era ( I cannot recall either the title or the author) about a 'dark eyed female' who befriended young women and they began to fall ill with a type of anemia.**** **** **Chapter 1**

"Master?"  Seras opened her eyes and gazed into the darkness of her coffin-bed.  Her borderline senses were probably not as powerful as they could be given her aversion to drinking blood on a regular basis.  She could not determine what had awakened her.

"Police girl?"  Her master's voice echoed in her head.

"Did you…Are you…nearby?"  Seras asked, her fingers sliding the bar that would raise the lid and lift her bed.

"I am everywhere."  His deep chuckle filled the space around her.

Seras shook her head, swinging her legs over the side of the bed she sat upright.  She saw the bag with the 'medical blood' label chilling on the table in front of her.  She grimaced.

"You sensed her as well Police girl?"  Her master asked as his chaotic grin filled the room in bizarre Cheshire cat fashion as the rest of him followed behind that grin. 

"Sensed who?"  Seras gazed at him with the same wonder and awe that she did on the first day when he had given her the choice; The choice to die, or to become one of the living dead, creature of the night, vampire.

"My sister.  She has awakened."  

She could not read anything into his reply.  His glasses and the brim of his hat shadowed his red-rimmed eyes.  His crooked smile was the same.

"Your sister…Master?" Seras asked again.  On the rare occasions that she learned more about this creature that had made her the more she realized how very little she knew.

"Hellsing summons."  He winked at her and disappeared back into the shadows of her room.  He was going to meet with the young leader of the Hellsing organization.  Lord Hellsing had never actually summoned Seras.  Lord Hellsing rarely acknowledged her and if she was, it was merely as some kind of weapon and in the context of an attack.  Not even after the Bubboncy incident, had she received much by way of from the proud woman who headed the Organization.

*-*

Integra Hellsing sat behind the large desk, a tendril of smoke rising from the thin cigarillo held between two gloved fingers.  Long blonde hair framed the fine patrician features.  Her delicate brow furrowed as blue eyes scanned the report before her.  She did not acknowledge the shift in the room as another presence filled the room.

"You have news?"  The deep voice asked with the same underlying mocking tone she was used to.

The cigarillo was lifted to pursed lips that opened just enough to inhale.  After the exhaled sigh she raised her head and looked at the creature before her.

"Arucard.  You knew she would awaken."  Integra Hellsing's tone indicated it was not a question but rather an accusation.  The icy sheen of pale blue eyes was the exclamation point to the statement.

"She is a Category A Prime vampire, none can predict her actions."

"None?  Or perhaps you didn't choose to tell me."  Integra held Arucard's gaze.

"She is not a threat.  She has a distinctly…genteel manner in her view of humans.  Far more generous than even I."  Arucard replied, sneering only slightly at his final statement.

"Do you forget the purpose of the Hellsing Organization and the Royal Order of Protestant Knights?  'In the name of Good, impure souls of the living dead shall be banished into eternal damnation. Amen.'"  Integra spoke the creed that dictated her entire life with the conviction of one who has no other view of the world.

Arucard did not respond, save with a snort of disgust.

"I want her destroyed."  Integra stated with finality, placing the cigar in her mouth as she began sorting through other reports.

"I cannot attack without a serious transgression from her in such an instance.  There are…laws that you have no place in superceding."

Integra paused before responding, "My authority comes from the highest power, with the Queen's own blessing, you will do what you need to."  She ground the cigar out in the round glass ashtray.

Arucard gave a small laugh before turning away to head towards the shadows.  "There are authorities higher than the ones you can conceive of.  I will wait and see if your request still stands."

When she was alone again she stopped rifling through the papers on her desk and turned her gaze to the large plate glass windows that covered the wall facing out.  Her office gave her a spectacular view of the gardens below in the courtyard.  She could see the troops training in the small training area.

Arucard's attitude was only mildly disturbing to her; she believed that he would do as she asked.  If there was one thing he enjoyed it was showing off how powerful he was.  Her entire life was focused on the destruction of the undead scourge that had the audacity to walk the Queen's land.  The FREAKS were only the latest incarnation of that scourge.  She puffed on her cigar and turned to the large picture that hung on the far wall of her office.  Abraham Van Helsing, her grandfather gazed across the expanse of the office.  He had not shirked in his duties when it came to dealing with vampires.  None of her ancestors who bore the name Helsing had, she would not be the first to start.  

"Sir Integra?  The commander's are ready to meet to review this afternoon's assignment."  Walter said as he entered the room.

Integra grabbed the folder with the day's agenda and nodded as she strode towards him.

Seras wandered through the Hellsing mansion.  She found that quite often she was left to her own devices when there was not an immediate need for her.  She knew that the commanders were upstairs in the conference room meeting with Lord Hellsing now.  Within the hour she would get her instructions on the latest incident that would have to be dealt with.  Ghouls, FREAKS, vampires…She suspected that Lord Hellsing put up with her but only barely.  She could still remember the first thing she had said directly to her.  "Don't go sucking people's blood without thinking."  Sera's had defensively replied, "I would not! I will not."  Lord Hellsing had only glanced at her before turning away.

Despite that, Seras had nothing but respect for the enigmatic woman who wore her titles and accepted her role with a quiet aloofness.  She sometimes wondered if she was ever lonely, there seemed to be no one that Sir Integra confided in.  Unless you counted her Master, Arucard.  That wasn't confiding so much as it was sparring.  It had been difficult for Integra Hellsing after the Incognito affair, the betrayal by someone from the Round Table.  Still, somehow, she had rebuilt the Hellsing Institute and come back to Hellsing Mansion.  

Seras sighed as she walked towards the courtyard to watch the elite troops of Hellsing Organization run through their paces.  She wondered where Arucard had gone after his conversation with Lord Hellsing.  Of course, that wasn't uncommon either.  

Seras was used to being on her own.  Her brief stint with D-11, the premiere swat team that had ultimately been destroyed in Cheddar by the vampire priest was the closest thing she had had to a family.  She couldn't really count Arucard; he was her master and was doing everything he could to help ease her transition into being a vampire.

"Vampire."  Seras spoke the word aloud.  Even though she had accepted it to a certain degree, her greatest fear was leaving what she considered her humanity behind.

_"Have you asked yourself what you think you are leaving behind?  Morality? A conscience?  There are those that are still human who do not have those things."_

Seras looked around, startled.  "Master?"  She spoke aloud as she always did, even though she knew he could hear her thoughts just as easily.

_"I make no such claim." _ The voice replied.  Seras thought she could detect a slight amusement beneath the response.

"Who are you to speak to me such?"  Seras demanded.

_"Just call me Auntie."_  Seras felt the amusement of the voice break to the surface.

"Victoria Seras, report for duty."  Seras turned towards the commander standing at the top of the stairs.  Obviously the debriefing was over.

"Sir, Yes Sir."  Seras saluted and took off down the hall to meet up with her unit.

Integra flipped open her package of Henri Winterman's Small Cigars.  She slipped one out and lit it as she settled into the chair in her office.  She thought about going down to the firing range before she had to get to command central.  She had no doubt that Arucard would be present to finish off the mission and she would have to know what powers he used and release those controls.

Walter entered the room, waiting for a moment before speaking.

"Yes?"  She finally asked, not turning to look at him.

"The car is ready.  Would you like a cup of tea before we leave?"  Walter asked, moving towards the tea set against the wall.

"That would be fine."  Integra sat bathed in the radiance of the afternoon setting sun.  She turned to watch Walter as he prepared the tea.  She noticed the slight favoring of his right side.  He had recovered as they all had but they were never whole again.  She had spoken to the Queen directly about the traitor who sat at the Round Table.  They still did not know who it was.  Trying to read the older men who made up the various factions did no good, if any of them were surprised at her continued role and the re-instatement of the Hellsing Organization, they did not reveal it.

She tugged at her gloves unconsciously.  She had allowed Arucard to use almost the full extent of his power when battling Incognito and she felt responsible for the destruction that the 2 vampires facing off caused.  How had it come to that?  The Hellsing organization stood for the elimination of non-humans and vampires, yet she had allowed Arucard the power to destroy part of her beloved city protecting it against another vampire.

Walter came towards her with the teapot and 2 fine porcelain cups on a silver tray.  He smiled as he set the tray down.

"Lady Integra, you have been especially quiet of late."  

"The world has changed so much and not changed at all."  She replied as she reached for a cup.  

"That is true.  It is always that way.  Yet, we continue our fight because our fight is just."  Walter said as he reached for the second cup.

"May God and the Queen's blessing be w/ you. Amen."  She raised her cup to him.

"Amen."  Walter replied as he raised the cup to his own lips.

The two drank in silence for a few minutes.

"You are troubled by the news of his relative?"  He asked.

"They are not truly related, are they?  The same soulless monster created them both.  Does that make them kin?"  Integra said dismissively.

"Your father once told me of a story he had heard.  I believe it was some kind of gypsy myth that spoke of one of their own becoming as the night.  Would you like to hear it?  I can only recall some of the details."

*-*

"I know the story.  It was only a short time before the glory and grace that would become England."

It begins on a darkened road, as all stories of this kind do.  If one had to select a time, we could say it was over 1000 years ago.  A girl, no, more of a young woman really, walking along the road.  Older for the life expectancy in these times but it is inherent to her people that they live longer than the general populous.  She was walking back towards the encampment where her tribe was settled for the evening.

The first thing she saw when she entered the small flickering circle of light was him.  He turned his glittering red eyes towards her and smiled a feral smile.

"Upir[1]."  She hissed in response.

"Camilla!"  Her father scolded her.

She turned towards her father.  "Poppa…What is this?"

The creature smiled.  "She is perfect.  You have done well Nikolas."

The creature looked over the young woman standing before him.  She was as close to a daughter as he could conceive.  She was proud.  He could see it in her dark eyes gazing at him in anger.

"Ariana? Where is she?"  The creature asked

Nikolas lowered his eyes.  "She fell ill last spring.  We could not heal her."

The creature looked away from Camilla towards the swarthy man.  "She became ill?  How is that possible?"

Nikolas shook his head.  "We know not."

Camilla glared at the creature.  "How dare you speak of my mother as if you knew her."

The creature looked back towards her.  "I knew her very well."  He replied without affect.

"Camilla, go back to the wagon.  Allow us to continue our discussion."  Her father spoke to her, motioning her towards their traveling wagon.

Camilla looked around the fire; the rest of the encampment was nowhere to be seen.  They must all be within their wagons.  This was not the norm.  Hers were a people who lived beneath the stars.

She glanced back uneasily towards her father and the creature.  Their murmuring did not reach her ears.

She did not know it then but it would be the last time she would see her father or her tribe.

"_It is not nice to eavesdrop."  _Arucard thought to the presence he could feel nearby.

_"It is not nice to reprimand your elders either.  How many times do they tell that romanticized story of my origins?  Ever since I told Abraham that story, I imagine she was told?"_

_"Really, not like the source didn't have a penchant for romanticizing her origin.  Wasn't that how you told the story to begin with?  He wasn't the only one enamored of your mystery.  The story of your 'Victorian' friendships with all those young women."_

_"They were completely platonic, I assure you."  _

The thought took form beside Arucard as Camilla appeared.  She was not as tall as he but still had the presence to seem taller.

He turned to look at her.  His normally chaotic grin mellowed into something akin to genuine affection.  Her jet-black hair was pulled back and up into a loose bun, the ringlets framing her beautiful face.  Her dark eyes revealed very little of the red blaze that his did.  

"You should not have come."  He said as he touched her arm lightly.

"And miss the opportunity to see you?  I have met your progeny.  She is an interesting choice."  Camilla smiled at him as she put her arm through his.

"It was her choice.  I offered her freedom and she chose not to take it."  Arucard replied.  Despite his own preferences for being alone most of the time, there was something comforting with her standing beside him.  It was she who had taught him most of the Control Methods.

"Perhaps she likes serving your master as well.  She is a cold one, that one.  She does not share her grandfather's passion for our breed."  Camilla said teasingly.

"She does not understand what a true vampire is."  Arucard replied, his attention drifting towards the battle engaged in the warehouse below them.

"Pay attention little brother.  It is impolite for you to drift away from the conversation.  She is troubled by the old myths as well.  In her mind a vampire is only a beast."  Camilla said as she also turned her gaze towards the warehouse.

"Not unlike those below.  They are the new breed I have been told about?"  She asked, her eyes narrowing slightly as she watched the humans in uniform surround the building.  She watched the quick moving figures within the warehouse.

"They are the vermin that dare to think they have ascended to our level."  Arucard sneered.  Camilla's penchant for calling him by familial ties was something he had always tolerated from her.

"Then why do they have need of you?  If they are not true vampires, why waste your talents?"  Camilla asked.

"They have bought in one from the Dark Continent, some true vampires are involved in this.  There are many involved in this most likely."

"In the trappings of men and our kind, it is never uncomplicated, I know.  It was your battle with the nameless one that wakened me from my slumber.  Is there a House involved or was he rogue?"

"Arucard.  Now."  He heard Integra's voice from the car that had parked near the entrance of the street leading to the warehouse.  Arucard did not answer Camilla's question.

"Target has not been sighted.  Moving into position now."

"She calls you by that name?  You have given to her one of your oldest names.  There may be more to this than I thought."  Camilla said as she followed Arucard with same breath taking speed, until they were both stopped out side the warehouse.

"First I destroy the vermin, then we can talk."  Arucard said, the feral gleam sparking his eyes as he turned his attention to the half dozen FREAKS inside the warehouse.

"If that is all it takes, wait here."  Camilla said and disappeared from his side.

"Damn you."  Arucard muttered as he followed her in.

_"I heard that, and you know I already am."  _Camilla replied.__

Seras watched the swirling figure materialize in the midst of the FREAKS in the warehouse.  She waited for the mist to materialize into the recognizable form of her master.  She was surprised to see instead a woman with dark hair appear.  Dressed in a beautiful Victorian styled dress, she looked so out of place standing amidst the feral FREAKS, which naturally turned towards her with glee.

Seras watched as the woman lifted one hand and began speaking.  If Seras were looking only at the woman alone, it would appear as though she were reciting a poem in a sunny park somewhere.  Seras had seen a painting once, the one that as you got closer it was nothing but dots of paint.  This woman looked like she could have stepped out of that painting.  Instead, the FREAKS stopped cold in their tracks.

"Is target neutralized?"  Seras was startled back by Integra Hellsing's questioning voice in her earpiece.

"Negative.  There is a woman in there.  Unable to determine if she is a hostile."  Her commander's reply crackled back.

"Destroy her."  Hellsing said.

Seras saw her master appear in the warehouse as well.

"Unable to gain clear shot of new target.  Oh my god…"  Seras heard one of the snipers.  She knew exactly how he felt.  She watched as the woman turned smiling towards her master and what looked like a red sheet streaming towards them.  Seras turned her head away.  The woman was pulling the FREAKS blood out of their very bodies.

_"This is new."_  Arucard said as he watched Camilla craft the blood into weapons that decapitated the FREAKS.

_"Blood magic.  You didn't think I spent all my time watching humanity evolve did you?"_  Camilla replied smiling.

_"You should leave.  She has issued a command for you to be destroyed as well."_  Arucard said, a tinge of something crossing his face.

_"Little brother, I came to see and talk with you.  Surely all work and no play make you very moody.  How long has it been since you've enjoyed yourself?"_  Camilla continued to smile.  Despite himself, Arucard smiled back.

_"Come on.  We have the entire city to see and lifetimes to catch up on.  I am intrigued by your new master."  _Camilla dissipated back into the misty shadow.

Arucard shook his head.  _"You mean you want to bed her.  Your persistence in the physical manifestation when dealing with humans…"_

_"You make it sound so distasteful.  It is nothing more than helping them realize the joys that exist within their mortal coil."_

Arucard felt her presence disappear.  He would never admit this but he felt the overture of a very dangerous dance beginning.  He walked towards the Silver Cloud Rolls Royce, stepping through the remains of the FREAKS.  Part of him thrilled, Camilla back with new skills, he wanted to learn those skills.  Camilla, despite all outward impressions of being a demure, quietly commanding presence, took mastering the skills of being a true vampire very seriously.  Of all the 'siblings' he could have learned from, she was the one he always sought out.  She alone had the kind of power that Arcade strove to achieve.

Inside the car, Hellsing listened impassively to the descriptions being fed back to her via the strike teams.  It was as she suspected, this creature under the guise of being a woman could be very dangerous.  She rolled down the window.  A small tendril of smoke made its' way towards the outside air.

"You let her go."  She said to Arucard.

"She was never trapped.  She likely means no harm.  She finds your kind…intriguing."  Arucard replied, the same sneering tone he had displayed back in her office surfaced again.

"I gave the command to destroy her, I expect it to be followed."  Hellsing said, rolling the window back up.  She nodded towards the driver indicating he should leave.

Arucard shrugged his shoulders and turned back towards the path he had arrived on.

"Master!  Who was that woman?"  Seras ran up to walk beside him.

"In your terms? My sister."  Arucard kept walking, away from the carnage that the clean-up crews were now processing.

Seras gazed up at the striding form of her master.  He was unreadable a large amount of the time anyway but he seemed even more removed than usual.

"I think I met her.  She said I could call her Auntie…"  Seras said softly.

Arucard snorted by way of a response.  "I am sure she did…"

"What is her name?"  Seras asked.

"Camilla."

Seras did not realize it, but she felt like she had been holding her breath until he told her that name.

"Camilla…" She repeated softly.

Arucard shook his head in amazement.  His breed, by nature, had compelling presence, but Camilla seemed to affect both mortals and immortals alike.  He did not like to admit his own fallacy in this area. 

  


* * *

[1] First appearance of the word "Upir" in a document in 1047 referring to a Russian prince as "Upir Lichy", or wicked vampire.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer information: All characters belong to their proper copyrighted owners.  Please use your own discretion in reading, as the content of the story will lead towards 'Yuri" and possibly lemon (I do not know the criteria of these definitions) which accounts for the R rating as there will be, in the upcoming chapters some violence and other adult themes.  This timeline takes place after the Incognito incident after the series end.  I have not read the Manga and the assumptions regarding Arucard and his 'age' were based upon a now defunct fan site called "Intensity-Integral Shrine".  If you have not seen the following website Solid & Etc you should get there as soon as you can.  It is some of the most astonishing Hellsing inspired art I have ever seen.  Reviews and feedback are welcome.  The character of Camilla is based upon the vampire story written in the Victorian era ( I cannot recall either the title or the author) about a 'dark eyed female' who befriended young women and they began to fall ill with a type of anemia.**** **** **Chapter 2**

Integra Hellsing made her way into the shadowed mansion.  She felt the twinge of annoyance from the strike earlier.  She did not like uncontrolled variables in her execution of plans.  This creature masked as a woman was definitely uncontrollable.

She walked into her office and settled into the plush chair.  Moments later she got up and paced across the expanse of her office.  Her agitation was more than the appearance of the abomination; it was Arucard's behavior as well.  Not that their 'relationship' such as it was included his unquestioningly acceptance of her commands.

She turned at the sound of the light knock against the door.

"Yes."

"Lord Hellsing, you have a guest requesting an audience."  Walter entered the room and bowed slightly.

Integra cocked her eyebrow.  "A guest?"

"Yes Milord.  Shall I escort her in?"  Walter asked.

"Her?"  Integra's eyes narrowed.  "Come here."  She beckoned Walter towards her, after her last experience with Bubbancy, the succubus type vampire; she wanted to make sure there was no such enchantment at work.

Walter stepped forward.  Integra looked at him carefully.

"Did she give a name?"

"Countess Camilla Alexandre de Medici de Corternance.  His 'kin', such as it were, requested that I let you know she was here."  Walter cocked his head and stared hard at Integra.

"Lord Hellsing, if you wish, I can send her away."

Hellsing sighed, "No, no, send her in."

Walter bowed again and left the room.  Integra pondered the title.  If the Medici portion was true, then this Camilla woman could trace her lineage back to Henry IV and his marriage of Marie de Medici.  Her brow furrowed again, and if this was an indicator of her age, then she was 460 + years old.  That couldn't be right, Arucard was 567 years old and the woman he called 'sister' was far older than he.  More than that, why should she request an audience?  She could enter into any place she wished…

"Lord Hellsing, thank you so much for taking the time to see me."  A woman's soft cultured voice spoke, interrupting Hellsing's thoughts.

Integra turned to face the woman and her eyes flashed angrily when she saw the same woman from earlier standing in her office.

"How dare you come into my office under the pretense of humanity."  She barked.  Camilla's accent had a foreign tinge that Integra could not place.  No surprise, since her native tongue was likely a language long lost in the sands of time.

Camilla smiled and bowed her head.  "I made no such pretense Lord Hellsing, I asked for an audience.  I was not aware that species denomination was a pre-requisite as well as title."

Integra coughed, her anger buffered slightly by this woman's audacity.  "You…you would dare to make light of the abomination that you are?"  She finally retorted.

Camilla smiled even more broadly, revealing only a hint of the fangs concealed behind her full lips.  "I would not make light of your perception, if that is what you are asking.  Abomination…Such an interesting word.  Derived from the Latin term abominari; to deprecate as a bad omen, to hate.  Is that true then? You hate me without knowing me?  Or do you believe me to be an omen of ill will?"

"Did you request this meeting to spar with me?"  Integra felt her patience being tried to the limits.  She wondered briefly if it was inherent to the species to be so annoyingly condescending.

"I wanted to meet the person who would so quickly issue an execution command for my demise.  You apparently do not share the mixed feelings for us that your great grand-father or grandfather did."  Camilla replied.  She studied the fine patrician features of Integra Hellsing.  She had her grandfathers penetrating blue eyes.

"Don't you speak of any Hellsing with such familiarity.  You are no more or no less than any other disgrace before God."

Camilla smiled; she liked the fire in this one.  

"Forgive me my presumption.  The men who bore the Hellsing name, manage to always find someone to share their lives with.  You, you are too proud.  You are burdened by the Hellsing name and all the responsibilities.  I wonder, is it hard for you?  Are you lonely in this position that you command?  So much for one person to handle and no one to confide in, no one to discuss issues that prey on your mind.  I could tell you about the history of your family that is not captured by any book if you wanted to know."  Camilla spoke softly.

"You are nothing more than an aberration with sentience.  You have nothing of value to offer me."  Hellsing retorted.  This woman, gazing at her so intently, was unnerving her.  She did not like the feeling.

"Integra Wingates Hellsing, you should not always turn away offers of friendship.  I accept that you believe you have to destroy me.  You are only slightly younger than I when my whole life was taken away from me and I became this aberration you speak of.  I can remember the passion of convictions from that age.  Sometimes, an open mind will serve you better than an open mouth."  Camilla said as she turned away and headed back towards the door.

Integra glared, for once, struck speechless by the audacity of this creature.  In some ways, the slightly condescending tone reminded her of Arucard and she suspected that this was where he learned it.

Camilla let herself out without looking back at the stunned Lord Hellsing.

Moments later, Walter re-entered the room, a bemused look on his face.

"Lord Hellsing, the Countess asked I give this package to you.  Did the audience not go well?"

Integra turned her furious gaze on him and then softened.  "It was an interesting audience for one so bold as to come into this house being what they are."

Walter walked towards Integra with the tastefully wrapped package in his hand.

"There is no defense of any abomination, however, the Countess is an anomaly even among the others of her breed."  Walter said as he walked towards her.

Integra raised her eyebrow.  "Indeed Walter?  Now even you would defend this thing?  I was not aware that this side existed in you."  Her tone was cold.  She did not like the feeling that all those around her seemed to be defending this thing disguised as a woman.

Walter lowered his gaze.  He knew from past experience that the more one tried to push Integra, the more resolute she became.   He passed the package over to her.

"What is this?"  Integra murmured as she opened the package.  Nestled in a fine silk nest a beautifully polished silver lighter gleamed at her.  Integra picked it up gingerly, she noticed the Hellsing family crest engraved upon it and initials on the other side.  This was her grandfather's lighter.  Beneath it was a small card with beautiful calligraphy script.

I expect that your grandfather would have liked you to have this.  Regards, Camilla

"How dare she…It…Walter, what do you know about this creature?"  Integra said softly.

Walter saw the lighter and shook his head slightly.  "Let me prepare us some tea, Lord Hellsing.  This will take some time to explain."  Walter said moving towards making more tea.

Integra sat down heavily into one of the wing-backed chairs near the bookshelves.  She grabbed one of her thin cigars and lit it with the lighter.  It flared to life immediately and she held it to the tip and puffed lightly.

Walter set the teacup down beside her and sat across from her.  

"Lady Camilla has a long history with the Hellsing family.  Longer than even Arucard has.  The reason we know the rumors of her origin is because she told us the story of her origin.  Your great grandfather was deeply enamored of her specifically.  That is a tale that is never spoken of.  She is fascinated by humanity.  Whatever happened to her in the distant past, the horrors she has seen and more than likely invoked, never has she stopped being an ally to the cause of humanity."  Walter said as he sipped his tea.

"You expect me to believe that this creature had the attention of my ancestor and she is an ally?  She is an abomination against God and country."  Integra replied.

"Let me finish her story then.  The part that is rarely recounted.  You may judge for yourself the story of the woman who you are convinced you need only destroy.  If I may?"  Walter asked.

"You may…"  Integra said, her tone begrudging.

*-*

"Come, enter into your new home."

Camilla glared at the creature.  She sidled past him.  Her father, Nikolas, had only explained to her that she was to travel with the creature.  No amount of pleading or questioning could get anything else out of him.  Finally, he told her brusquely, "Enough of this Camilla.  You shame me and you shame your mother's memory.  This is your fate…"

Camilla had wept and then gathered her things.  When she faced the creature it was with a stony gaze.

Camilla refused to look around her.  Once she stepped in through the massive doors, she stood.  The hall way was huge; three large fireplaces blazed bringing light into only brief areas.  The rest of the hallway was cloaked in shadows where the torches and blaze of the fireplaces could not penetrate.

"Will you not even face me?"  The creature spoke.  "I have a name, it is a name that you will carry on as your own.  I am Alexander, you shall be Camilla Alexandre."

Camilla turned back towards him, her eyes blazing.  "You are wrong Upir, I will not carry on anything for you.  If you are to feed on me, then make it quick so I can pass from this life into the next."

Alexander struck her casually and the blow sent her across the great stone floor.

"You are the one who is mistaken.  You are as close to my own flesh and blood as I can conceive."  

Camilla's jaw throbbed; she could feel the swelling begin beneath her fingers and the warm trickle of blood.

"There is no room for conceiving from the loins of the dead."  She said darkly.

In a flash he was beside her and lifting her by her tunic.  She struggled against his vise like grip.

To her surprise, he laughed.  Threw his head back and laughed uproariously.

"You are indeed the off-spring of Ariana and Nikolas.  I could not have asked for more."  He set her down gently.

She spat at him, and a spray of blood hit him in the face.

"Tasty and yes, it does confirm, you are of my blood."  He smiled, running his tongue over his lips, dark eyes glittering.

"There are two ways we can proceed and I leave it entirely to your discretion child.  You may listen and hear the tale of your conception and why it is I lay claim to you.  You may embrace your heritage once I complete your transformation or, we can do this in a much more difficult manner but the end result will be the same."  Alexander said as he wiped the blood from his face with a delicate linen cloth.

Camilla backed away slowly.  Her mind raced as her eyes darted around the large room.  There was no exit except the massive doors and she knew they were already closed and locked.  Still, the pride of who she was, Camilla of the Vorstand tribe, daughter of Nikolas and Ariana, refused to allow her to just bow down and accept a new name much less some heretic lineage.

"You may do your worst, but I shall never be what you are.  Never."  She said ferociously.

Alexander shook his head.  "It pains me that you make this choice, and yet, somehow, I knew that you would."  He nodded his head and Camilla found herself trapped by unseen restraints.  She felt herself being forced down to her knees and try as she might, she could not push against the force.

"I will come to you again in a fortnight and give you the choice again."  Alexander said before walking away into the darkened hall where the flickering lights could not reach.

Camilla watched as he disappeared into the shadows.  "If this is all, then the answer will be the…"  She could not finish her retort as excruciating pain ripped through her body.

In the days and nights that followed, Camilla came to conscious awareness when the pain and horrific visions faded only briefly.  She was peripherally aware that she was being cared for; there were hands that wiped the caked sweat from her flesh.  Clean cold water was placed against her parched lips and she would drink.  There was dried meat and fruit as well, but it was rare that any food of substance could stay down.

Camilla had no idea how many days and nights passed, if it was only a fortnight or a year.  One day, the pain subsided and as she shivered, still in the great hallway, still in the position she had been forced to, her muscles screaming in protest for the torture of that position, she saw well-crafted shoes before her.  

"I ask you again child, what is your choice?"  Alexander spoke softly.

Camilla heard a sound and at first was not sure what it was.  After a moment she realized that it was her own whimpering.

She tried to speak.  Tried to form the words that would let him know she would hear what he had to say.  Her lips and mouth did not agree.

"You need only think it.  Very well then.  Let us get you recovered enough to hear and understand the tale."  Alexander said and when the force that had bound and kept her released, Camilla collapsed to the floor, her muscles spasming.  In a moment she passed blissfully into a dark unconsciousness.

When she awoke, she was in a deep feather bed.  She had been cleaned and she could smell the aroma of the oils that had been worked into her flesh.  She tried to move and found, to her relief that she could.  It was painful and there was no small amount of stiffness.  She turned towards a sound and saw a young house servant entering the room.

"How long…" Camilla's voice came out as a croak and then cracked.  The servant ran over to her and reached for the water bucket beside the bed.  A small ladle was raised to her lips so that she could drink the water.

"Thank you."  Camilla voice was still raspy, unused except to scream for the past few weeks.  "How long have I been…"

"Milady had been sleeping for 4 days."  The servant replied, bowing slightly.

"4 days?  Milady?  You mistake me for someone else, I have no title…"  Camilla replied, confused.

"Do you need anything else Milady?"  The servant said, no acknowledgement to her questions.

"I need for you to stop calling me Milady." Camilla said as she settled back into the bed.  The servant only nodded and exited the room.

Camilla stared at the ceiling above her.  What madness had she found herself in?  She knew she was too weak to try and escape just yet.  The room was light with large open windows; she could feel the breeze coming in through them.  Where was she?  How long had they traveled before arriving here?  She tried to remember the journey here.  It was isolated; the last village they had passed through had been at least 3 days before arriving here.  Was it near the sea?  She sniffed the air, perhaps it was, she could smell the salty tang of salt water.

"You have finally awakened? And of course, your first thought is that you are trying to determine how to escape."  Alexander walked into the room.

Camilla watched him as he entered the room.  It was daylight.  

"I cannot blame you for believing the myths of the ignorant, that is half the protection we have.  If you wish, I can tell you the story of who you are, to me and to this world."  He sat on the edge of her bed.

Walter paused in his story of the young woman named Camilla.  He watched Integra before he began to sip his now cold tea.

"How could you know the story of her origin?  It is the one thing that all abominations keep secret.  That is why we cannot determine how they, the true vampires, are created."  Integra said, reaching over to light another cigar.

"That is where the tale actually ends.  We do not know what Alexander said to her.  She told the story to your great-great grandfather.  It is rumored; he captured the details in a journal that has since been lost to the Hellsing family.  However, some parts we know without the journal as it is a story repeated from time to time."

"I have never heard of this tale."  Integra replied coldly.

"There are few that have Milord.  Camilla had asked that her tale never be told unless she has arrived.  Your father never knew the tale of Camilla.  The gypsy myth he knew as do so many but you are the first since your grandfather to hear this story."  Walter said calmly.

"Are you saying my father never knew of Camilla?  That is a lie."  Integra rose out of the chair and began pacing.

"I did not say that Lord Hellsing, I said that he never heard the tale of Camilla.  He knew of the woman.  Everyone who has ever worked for the Hellsing organization knows tale of her. 

Integra's icy blue eyes narrowed.  "Everyone except the current head of Hellsing organization?"  She asked curtly.

Walter lowered his gaze.  "You did not know of Arucard either until your father told you to go there for safety.  There are many secrets within Hellsing, some I know, and many I do not.  We have been around too long and dealt with creatures that measure decades as we measure days.  You know the tale now."

"So, the story ends there?"  Integra paused in her pacing and faced Walter.

"We know that she rejected the tale and the transformation and suffered again.  It was, according to her timeline, a full season before she completed her transformation.  It is unknown if it was voluntary.  She did not say, only that it happened."  Walter stood and picked up the tea tray.

"You expect that this should make her any less of an abomination to me?  She is that which this organization was created to destroy.  Whatever her tale, lies more than likely, does not change that mission."  Integra turned away from Walter and walked back towards the window.

"Amen."  Walter murmured as he left the room with the tea tray.

Integra put out the cigar and clasped her gloved hands behind her back as she gazed out the window again.  She was troubled by Walter's defense of the creature.  Arucard she expected, although she was surprised that he was not up to the challenge of besting a true vampire.  She did not like the behavior that this woman invoked.

She sighed and turned back to her desk.  She had new reports to review.  The incidents of FREAKS were on the rise again.

_"Did you satisfy your curiosity?"  _Arucard sneered as he and Camilla sat high above London, settled on the Tower of London.

_"She has quite the will.  Yet, I sense she is lonely.  You offer her your attention?"  _Camilla replied, watching the stream of tourists and commuters swirling and eddying at the base of the tower from the subway station.

Arucard snorted.  "_You forget, I am not like you.  I have no fascination for their paltry passions."_

Camilla raised her eyebrow.  _"Indeed.  That was a recent development for you then.  I do not speak of passion anyway, I speak of loyalty.  You are loyal aren't you?  You never did tell me how you came to be captured by Hellsing."_

_"And you have never told me of your transformation."  _

_"There is nothing to tell there.  It is all my re-spinning of history anyway.  I know you care for your young ward.  This is some agreement between you and she, yes?"  _Camilla smiled as she  deferred the topic yet again.

Arucard sat beside the woman who was the only thing left that resembled what he would call kin.  He made no reply.  They had shared many things, despite her aversion to killing of 'innocents' as she put it.  Arucard made the point that there was no such thing as an innocent when it came to humanity.

He supposed in a way that Seras reminded him of Camilla.  Her tenacity to cling to what she considered was human about her.

_"She is intriguing as well.  You say you offered her a choice and she chose to become as you and I?"  _Camilla stretched against the backdrop of the dusky sky.

_"Twice I gave her a choice, twice she has stayed."  _Arucard shrugged.

_"I would like the chance to speak with her again.  Will you permit it?"  _

_"As if I refused would affect your decision.  I will warn you again about Hellsing, she is a dangerous one to set your eyes on.  I know you like the challenge but you should be careful."_

_"I think I understand.  This mission of hers consumes her.  I could offer her insight, I knew her grandfather and her great grandfather.  I did not know her father except as a very small child.  If she will not hear it from me, then I can pass it on to you and you can tell her.  She obviously trusts you.  Come, take me to your off-spring, I wish to speak with her, she is not comfortable communicating like this, is she?"_   Camilla stood and stretched her arms.

"She likes to speak, out loud.  Sometimes I forget and it startles me when she replies in her speaking voice."  Arucard stood as well, towering over the small woman.

In a blink, the silhouetted figures were there and then gone.

*-*

Seras wandered through the grounds of the Hellsing estate.  She was walking past the well-kept garden when she felt that sensation along her spine.  Except, this time it was so strong she almost shivered.

"Master?"  She called out questioningly.

The instead of one, two forms materialized before her, the familiar form of her master, and again the woman.

Arucard did not speak he merely nodded towards Seras.

"It is a pleasure to officially meet you Seras, or do you prefer Victoria?"  Camilla said, smiling at the young woman.

"I…Seras is fine."  Seras replied, stammering.  If her Master was sharp edges and dark corners of fear, this woman was the opposite.  She exuded a presence that made Seras feel both calm and frightened at the same time.  It was a strange feeling, this comforting disconcertion. 

"You have no need to fear me.  I assure I mean you no harm."  Camilla touched the other woman's arm lightly.

Arucard snorted.  "Perhaps it is you who should be on guard, Seras orders are the same as mine, to kill you on sight."

"Oh…I…"  Seras realized that he did speak the truth.  Although she did not know how she could possibly even begin to attack this woman.

"You are correct.  I am currently trying to negotiate a cease-fire on that front.  We'll see if the peace treaty holds."  Camilla laughed and her laugh was a beautiful, clear sound.

Seras smiled in response.  This woman was everything her Master was not.  They were, she suspected, two sides of the same coin.

Camilla slipped her arm through Seras's arm, "Will you walk with me and speak?  I am curious to know about this struggle you face.  I am told you have made the choice both to become as we are and to stay indebted to my brother.  I am intrigued."

Arucard shook his head as Seras allowed herself to be led deeper into the garden.  He looked up at the window where Hellsing normally stood.  She was not there.  There was something brewing in the night tonight, her could feel it


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer information: All characters belong to their proper copyrighted owners.  Please use your own discretion in reading, as the content of the story will lead towards 'Yuri" and possibly lemon (I do not know the criteria of these definitions) which accounts for the R rating as there will be, in the upcoming chapters some violence and other adult themes.  This timeline takes place after the Incognito incident after the series end.  I have not read the Manga and the assumptions regarding Arucard and his 'age' were based upon a now defunct fan site called "Intensity-Integral Shrine".  If you have not seen the following website Solid & Etc you should get there as soon as you can.  It is some of the most astonishing Hellsing inspired art I have ever seen.  Reviews and feedback are welcome.  ****

Chapter 3 

****

"She has arisen again?"  The voice was cold as the distant north.

"She has come out from her slumber.  She has, true to fashion, found that disgrace of our breed, Arucard."  The other voice replied, harsh and grating.

"I care not for the folly of the mortals, or any of her idiot siblings, not even that bastardized sibling.  It is she I seek and have waited 4 centuries to exact my revenge."

"Of course Milord.  She shall suffer soon enough, tonight we will unleash the wrath of Cortisia upon her."

"She shall not be killed.  I want her taken alive."  The voice said severely.

"Of course."  The figure dissipated into the mist.

*-*

Hellsing turned on the lamp on her desk.  She rubbed the bridge of her nose.  There was an increase in FREAK and other supernatural activity.  She was inclined to believe that they were reacting to something, not unlike animals that can sense a storm coming and begin to panic.

She picked up the phone and dialed.  "Walter, assemble the commanders, I have a plan for this evening."  She said quickly.  She waited a moment for his acknowledgement and then placed the receiver down.

"Arucard!"  She barked into her empty office.  She began reassembling the disarray of papers on her desk.

Within moments, she felt him arrive.

"You should not plan an attack tonight.  There is something larger out there."  Arucard said as he moved in towards her desk.

"Now you give commands?"  Integra asked quietly.

Arucard looked at her.  "She is right.  You are feeling the burden of your office and your title."

Integra turned away towards the window.  "She knows nothing of how I feel.  I know there is something out there but I will not stand by while whatever it is thinks that it can move freely thorough my city.  If nothing else, this is a perfect time to clean up."

Integra watched Seras walking with Camilla.  She felt a twinge of something; she wasn't sure what but it almost felt like jealousy.  She narrowed her blue eyes and turned back towards Arucard.

"You allow her to walk on my grounds now and do nothing?"  Her voice was soft and quiet.

"Apparently, your entire staff allows it.  You will tell me where to be later I trust?"  Arucard replied disdainfully as he disappeared back into the wall.   His glowing red eyes the last thing to blink out.

*-*

Seras hefted her gun over her shoulder.  Arucard had not said anything but the cold look she had received from Lord Hellsing as she walked past the troops told her that her late afternoon walk with Camilla was not well received.

She waited as the other troops moved into position.  There were so many FREAKS in the buildings below, another warehouse district crawling with them.  She was the secondary to Arucard, knowing that they would call him in to do the most damage he could and then her, and then finally let the Hellsing organization troops come in and mop up.

In the distance she heard the intermittent burst of machine gun fire as a squadron found another nest of FREAKS and had to readjust the perimeter.

She reached up to brush her hair out of her eyes.  Camilla had been so unlike anything she had expected.  She had talked to her about becoming a vampire.  Talked to her about what that meant and how she had a choice, just like she has always had the choice, to let that mean she was nothing more than a mad beast who killed for sport and horror or that she accept what it took to keep her alive.  Camilla knew what to say, sometimes, when she spoke, Seras got the distinct impression that she was speaking not to council Seras but to give voice to the doubts she still wrestled with.

She had told stories about Arucard as a young vampire, funny stories.  It was truly as if a long lost relative had come to visit with childhood stories.  Seras like Camilla and she also sensed that beneath the compassionate exterior, in the words of her Master, she was a Category A Prime 1 vampire.  There was such power beneath her surface that Seras truly hoped that Integra would not persist in trying to destroy Camilla.  That seemed like an invitation to open Pandora's box.

*-*

Integra Hellsing waited for the car to come to a complete stop before opening the door.

"Do not Lord Hellsing, this is the most activity we have seen in a very long time from the FREAKS."  Walter said as he too prepared to exit the vehicle.

"I shall be right outside."  Hellsing replied, shutting her door and leaning against the car door.  Already the ashtray in the car had several cigar butts sticking out.  She sighed and opened another pack.  She lit it with her grandfather's lighter.

She rolled the lighter around in her hands.  She still worried over the small twinge of whatever that was earlier.  She knew vampires had compelling persuasion powers.  She wondered if that creature had done something during their talk.  Or was it the lighter itself?

Hellsing gave a small bitter laugh to herself.  Of course not, now she was giving them the power to enchant objects.

"Targets have been sighted.  Alpha team readjusting the perimeter, we have about 50 more than we anticipated.  Awaiting your instructions."

"Delta team, in position and standing by."

"Charlie team, in position and standing by."

Integra listened to the crackling check ins in the headset.  

"Arucard?"  She said.

"There is something else here.  Not just the FREAKS but they congregate around here because of it."  Arucard replied, his voice filling the air though he wore no transmission device.

"Stand by and wait for my mark."  Integra said to the teams.

The FREAKS were moving in some strange frenzied pattern.  When they finally launched again towards the nearest unit at the perimeter, Integra gave the command to engage at will.

The battle was well engaged and Hellsing listened to the curt orders occasional screams and muttering from the troops.  She knew that Arucard had not joined yet.  Then there was a shift in the sounds of the battle.  The troops began to request pulling back.  The FREAKS screams filled the background and Hellsing stepped away from the car to see what was happening.  Beasts, the size of rhinoceroses, with slathering jaws of too many teeth were ripping into the FREAKS and her troops, shredding them with saber long claws or snapping them in two in their jaws.  When Hellsing moved, one of the beasts swung its' massive head towards her.  A series of blinking eyes gazed at her.  Within seconds, all the other beasts, a dozen, more, turned to stare at Hellsing.

They begin trotting towards her and the car, their massive legs shortening the distance between them quickly.

"Get in Milord."  Walter says, starting the engine of the Silver Cloud.  Hellsing stared at the carnage before her; she began to back towards the car when the swirling black cloud rose up before the beasts.  Hellsing waits for Arucard's chaos given form to manifest.  Instead, like Seras's surprise earlier, it was Camilla who appeared.  The beasts stumbled to their knees and whimpering whines emitted from those great jaws.  

Within moments, Arucard stood beside Camilla.  Hellsing's blue eyes narrowed as she stopped right outside the car.  

Camilla concentrated on the Corsican hellhounds.  There were so many of them and while she stopped them initially, she could sense their true master, the one who had summoned them, urging them on.  

"Ready?"  She said lightly as she poised for the attack.

"I thought you would never ask."  Arucard replied.

The beasts hurled themselves at the two figures that immediately transformed in to shadows.  Hellsing watched as Camilla transformed into a sleeker, more agile version of what she was used to seeing from Arucard.  The battle was happening faster than her eyes could understand; it was darkness, blood and fury in a maelstrom before her.  

Seras watched from her position, moving in closer.  She can see what Hellsing cannot; she can see the beauty and grace of Camilla and Arucard's powers as they battled the hellhounds.  Even with the power, Seras winced every time one or the other of them was struck.  

Hellsing suddenly became aware that Arucard was spinning though the air and the fury had ceased.  Camilla was on the ground, back in human form, struggling to rise.  Blood now marred her fine features, Hellsing could not tell whose blood it was but some of it appeared to be the vampires.

"Interesting."  Hellsing thought, she could not recall actually seeing Arucard looking wounded.  She had seen him bleed; blessed weapons forged from saint's adornments could hurt him.

Camilla has the look of pained concentration.  Seras can see the power shimmering across the air, which she knows the others can't.  Arucard has reassembled himself and has drawn his guns.  Both of them can sense the power but they cannot see the source, only the target, Camilla.

"Milord, Camilla…The creature, appears to be engaged in some kind of battle or power struggle.  She is being attacked."

Hellsing did not reply.  She watched as Camilla struggled to stand and face towards the center of the warehouse district.  Hellsing became remotely aware that there are still battles taking place between her troops and the FREAKS and whatever other contingent is loose, killing whichever crosses their path.  Camilla continued to face the center of the warehouse district, although she looked as though she would fall again.

Even Hellsing could feel the electricity of the power moving through the air now.  

"She is protecting our troops."  Seras whispered.

"_Control release requested."  _Arucard asked Integra.  He would not stand by and watch his sister take such abuse to save the masses of humanity, or at least this sub-set.  He could feel how much power she was using to control the hellhounds and deflect the shimmering waves of power.__

Hellsing nodded as she replied.  "Control release for Control 7 - 1-A, the wrath of heaven's tears."

"No!"  Camilla said, both out loud and reverberating through Seras and Hellsing's minds.

_"There are too many innocents, you will stay back.  No controls."  _Camilla spoke firmly.__

_"They are not worth this effort.  They signed up to die for the 'glory of god and crown.'  Let them do just that."  _Arucard's rage rippled along his response.__

Hellsing watched Arucard, intrigued, she had never actually seen the vampire angry and he looked angry now.  He had not begun to use his powers.  She had released the control for him.

Hellsing, Seras and Arucard feel the force of the blows that strike Camilla and send her flying through the air.  She spins through the air and lands nimbly on her feet.  Another blow, then another and she staggers back.  Hellsing can see the physical toll of this battle and this too would be a first.

Camilla stands, glaring into the smoke and fire.  Finally, a figure appears from the shadows, tall, taller than Arucard and bigger, broader across the chest.  The face is covered by the cloak's shadow.

_"I have been looking for you witch."_

_"Herod…" _Camilla replied, questioning the voice_._

_"You didn't really think you could kill me, did you?"  _Came the snarling reply as he reached up and slipped the hood away from his face.__

Camilla stared at his face.  He was once a handsome creature, but now, scars criss crossed his features.  Including one gaping one down the right side of his face that had formed a braided twist of valleys and peaks from forehead to chin.

_"Admiring your handiwork?  If you thought I made you suffer before, you have no idea."  _He sneered and released a series of attacks, aimed at her.__

Camilla smiled weakly at him_, "For every pain you cause me, I will triple it against you.  Like I did before."  _She absorbed each of his attacks, to deflect the harm from those around them.

Arucard readies his guns and takes aim at the vampire, Category A no less, vampire who stands before his sister.  He is furious that she is not fighting back, he can sense how much abuse she is taking.

_"Do not fire upon him brother.  Not here. This is not the place."  _Camilla said_._

_"You cannot be serious.  To allow him to come here and humiliate you…"_

_"No one sees that I am not fighting.  No one can see that I am allowing him to beat me, like a cur."  _She replied lightly.__

_"I see…" _Arucard replied angrily.__

_"Would you have me battle him and level this area?  Kill your master? Can you get her to safety fast enough?  What of your own offspring.  She could not withstand a battle between us.  You alone would survive."  _Camilla pointed out.

Arucard could sense that she was becoming annoyed at having to distract herself with this conversation.  Blood was trickling out of her nose.

Herod smiled coldly, a grotesque mockery of what a smile was from the scars on his face.  She was not fighting him.  Her weakness was always these meat puppets, these cockroaches beneath his heel.

He turned from his attack of her and sent a flurry of attacks towards a cluster of the uniformed roaches.

Camilla disappeared and reappeared before the Hellsing troop under attack.  She cursed herself for being drawn into this.  How could she not have known Herod was alive, much less here?  She grimaced at the pain of Herod's attacks, if she had not thrown up the shield and moved in front of the attacks, the humans behind her would be smeared across the warehouse walls.

Hellsing's eyes narrowed.  Did Camilla just save those troops?  What was she doing?

Camilla felt small sharp pains across her back, through her shoulders, across her back and through her leg forced her to drop to one knee.  They were firing on her?  It was not that the bullets actually hurt her so much as stung but on top of everything else, she found the irony of surviving Herod's plan for revenge and falling to the man made projectiles too amusing.  

Hellsing saw the troop of men begin firing their weapons into the female vampire's back. They were panicked and probably hadn't realized she had actually protected them.

"Delta company, Cease fire.  I repeat, Cease Fire!  Fall back, immediately, fall back!" Hellsing barked into her headset.

Herod laughed and began walking towards the downed woman.  He stopped at the flurry of activity near her and then scowled as one after another, vampires, true vampires, appeared around her.

Arucard had flashed to Camilla's side the second she fell.  He felt his siblings and others appear one after the other.  It was hardly the reunion he would have anticipated.  

Hellsing and Seras watched the scene, each with remarkably different reactions.  Seras felt a pull to join the growing numbers of vampires materializing around Camilla.  She had never seen so many vampires, true vampires, not the FREAKS, in one place.  She overheard Camilla, her thoughts angry and not the usual calm, soothing tone.

_"You will not attack Herod.  And you absolutely will not attack the humans."_

_"Now you are being foolish.  You have endangered yourself and all to protect these same humans who shoot at you?"_

_"We will deal with this later."  _

_"Yes we will you graceless bastard child.  There will come a time when this will finish between us and I will finally remove the abomination that you are to our race."  _Herod interrupted Camilla.  His lips curling into a snarl, his eyes burning a deep red.__

_"Our battle has nothing to do with anyone but you and I."  _Camilla responded.__

_"Oh yes it does.  I will do to you what you tried to do to me.  First, you will pay for that humiliation, then I will let you live again through every slow and painful death of those around you, except you will not find the relief of oblivion."  _Herod stepped forward a small step before changing his mind.__

_"You mistake me for the foolish child I was all those centuries ago."  _Camilla answered calmly.__

Hellsing watched as Herod held his hand up in the air for a brief moment and then quickly formed an intricate design before turning away, dissipating into the shadows of the dusk that had fallen.

"Then suffer you bastard abomination."  Hellsing heard the voice come from the darkness.

Camilla uttered a small cry, the first sound of pain she had made during the entire battle and collapsed completely to the ground, a deep crimson rose spreading across her torso.

Arucard and the others rose and formed a wall of swirling shadows.  In moments, the black fog had spread out and away from Camilla and the FREAKS fell like an anthill destroyed by a vengeful child.  No matter what they tried, the shadows consumed them and then spit out their crumpled forms.

Hellsing saw Seras race into the cloud and towards the fallen creature.  Again, that odd feeling Hellsing had earlier bubbled to the surface, that almost jealousy.  

"Prepare to fire past Seras."  The voice crackled in her earpiece.

"Still unable to get a clear shot, sir."

"Aim for the head, hold position."  

"Holding position."

"What about the others?"

"Hold all fire.  I repeat, hold all fire.  We accomplished what we came here to do.  We shut down the FREAKS nest."  Hellsing interrupted.

"Sir?"

"Hold your fire."  Hellsing repeated curtly.  She told herself the reason she stopped the attack because she saw how quickly the swarm of true vampires had dispatched the FREAKS.  Now was not the time to destroy those abominations. 

Hellsing saw the wall of shadows begin to separate into unique forms again.  None of the true vampires seemed to even pay attention to the troops aimed at them.  They moved back in towards Camilla's prone form.

Seras was kneeling beside the female vampire, unsure of what to do.  Her mind was filled with images that she didn't understand.  She saw Camilla and Herod, and others she did not recognize.

A hand on her shoulder made her look up.  It was her Master.

"_You are seeing parts of her memories.  She is wounded and has used a great deal of power."  _Arucard explained_._

_"I am wounded not unconscious."  _Camilla interjected.

_"M'liege, you must allow us to take you from here."  _An unfamiliar voice said.

_"No…Leave me here.  I will be fine in a day or so, Herod will not attack again.  He has made his point."  _Camilla answered.__

_"M'Liege, that is not a wise decision.  Let us leave this island and travel to the America's, we have not seen that land in so long."_

_"We are not running.  I…Leave me.  Two full nights, and on the third night, the Council will convene."  _Camilla replied with finality.__

Seras became aware of a general sense of uneasiness and something else but one by one, the other vampires left.  Until it was only her and her master left standing beside the woman.

Arucard turned Camilla over gently and looked into her dark eyes.  He could see the pain in them but she offered him a small smile that never made it to her eyes.  He reached down and lifted her easily.  

"You are a fool more often than not.  I am not sure why I think you have anything to teach me."  He said as turned towards the far end of the warehouse area.

"It is my charm that keeps you so engaged."  She responded lightly.  Her chest burned from Herod's attack.  She was weak.  It had been too long since she had to use defensive and offensive powers together.  What Control had he used?  It was unlike any she had ever experienced and that was unusual.

"You should have let them die, it is the price they pay."  Arucard said.

"Arucard!  Take her to the room."  Hellsing walked towards the three vampires.

Arucard turned, the mad grin across his face wider than usual.

"Your mortal abode could not protect her if another attack comes."  He replied bluntly.

"There is one room, you know of the one I speak, that she could be placed in.  It is not in that room, but another, smaller one behind it.  There are few who could get in.  She will be invisible to those that seek her."  Hellsing answered, raising one finely sculpted eyebrow.  

Arucard shrugged and began walking again.  "I do not understand, do you wish to keep her nearby to regain strength so you can kill her?"  The thought filled Hellsing's head.

Hellsing did not reply, her eyes narrowed as she turned back towards her car.

"Mission completed.  Disengage."  Hellsing said to the troops.  

"Seras.  To my office later."

Seras nodded, then realizing that Hellsing's back was still towards her said, "Sir, yes sir."

Walter held the door open to the car, which had remained running.  He had watched the entire battle and knew that this was only the beginning.  He was not sure how Lord Hellsing would be able to handle the possible road ahead.  For a woman who saw the world in only black and white, he feared the coming shades of gray could be dangerous.

*-*

_"She is not going to be very happy later."_  Arucard said as he moved towards the Hellsing mansion.

_"Interesting that she wants me there instead of away."_ Camilla replied.

_"Really? I thought that was somehow part of your master plan, to play the wounded hero so she would see your inherent charm."_  Arucard answered mockingly.

_"The fact that it worked out as such…Tell me brother, why did you listen to me?  I know that you do not care for the humans.  Was it true, you do care for her?"  _Camilla asked.

_"She is my master."  _Was the only thing Arucard gave by way of reply_._

_"Just that?  In our years, it has not been many, but for her, you have been a part of her life for half of her life."  _

_"And in our years, you have been a part of my life for much longer than that.  Some could say you have known me since infancy."  _

Camilla did not respond.  So much as any of them.  Their breed was not especially prone to concepts like love, or the other philosophical ponderings that she found so engaging.  Sometimes, she truly wondered which species was the more evolved.  They had rules and traditions but by nature they were solitary.  She traveled with one or two primary companions; Those that shared her interest in the humans.  

_"I am not sure why you think the meat is so engaging."  _Arucard interrupted.__

_"We have been through this.  It is what we came from."  _Camilla answered.__

_"I do not remember that life, so long have I lived as what I am.  We are no longer as we were Camilla.  We are what we are."_

_"I am neither what I was or what you are…" _Camilla stopped.She was tired, she was still holding back the full effect of the damage she had taken, she had not fed since her initial awakening and given how much energy she had expended, even as she knew her body was healing itself, it didn't stop the pain of tiredness from permeating her entire body.__

Arucard walked up to the door at Hellsing manor.

"Through the front door, isn't that rare for you?"  Camilla spoke aloud.

"Hellsing was correct insofar that there is only one way to get into this room I am taking you to.  Even for those such as ourselves."  Arucard answered, speaking.

"Interesting."  Camilla replied.

"Lord Hellsing called ahead.  The room has been prepared."  One of the servants said as he walked by, Arucard knew only the few he dealt with regularly.

He merely nodded and kept walking.

Even with Arucard's quickness it took several minutes of stairs and winding labyrinth like hallways before Arucard set Camilla down into a fine feather bed.

"Would you like to feed?"  He asked as he moved away.

"Yes, please."  Camilla was not one prone to the 'comforts' of mortality as it were but right now, this bed felt divine.

Arucard bought over two bags of medical blood and set them down on the bedside table beside Camilla.  He quickly sliced open one of the tubes and handed it to her.

Camilla took the tube and began to drink.  It was barely room temperature but she drank the liquid eagerly.  She drained the first bag quickly.  Arucard said nothing but handed her the tube from the second bag.  Camilla drained it as quickly as the first.  It managed to take the edge off her hunger, although she was still hungry.  There were two more bags on the table behind Arucard.

Arucard chuckled as he grabbed the last 2 bags and bought them over as well.  There was only silence between them while she finished the two remaining bags.  Camilla and Arucard both knew that the reason she was so hungry was the amount of damage she had sustained.

When she had finished Arucard sat in the chair beside the bed.  

_"Are you going to tell me about Herod now?"  _He asked.__

_"No."  _Camilla answered, no malice, or anger just very simply.__

_"You know that she will expect to know.  I have to meet with the others.  Something will have to be done."  _Arucard replied as simply.__

_"I know…I did not expect…I did not expect Herod."  _Camilla answered.  Arucard sensed there was something going on behind that reply but pushed it no further.  It was not in the nature of their kind to pry.__

_"You need to rest."  _Arucard's stood and moved towards the door.__

_"Arucard.  Do not let them call a war.  Please."  _Camilla said before she felt his presence disappear completely.  She was too tired to notice that he walked from the room rather than disappearing in the shadows.__

She closed her eyes.  Morning was a long way off.  She did not want to be here, healing, but she also felt the exhaustion still flowing through her entire body.  In the silence of being alone, for the first time, she let go of all the self-control she had been exercising and felt the full effect of the damage she had taken.  The pain that flooded through her made her gasp.  The grief that Herod's presence uncovered was worse.

She closed her eyes, remembering every detail as if _that_ was the battle she was recovering from, and not the fact that it was over 500 years ago.

Laurian and she had been out walking in the city that would someday become Paris.  Laurian loved the ancient European cities, she loved that there were so many alleys and dark doorways that she could pull Camilla into and smother her with passionate kisses.  

Camilla adored Laurian.  She had often teased that it would be heart and soul if she still had either to offer.  Laurian would laugh and say whatever she had to offer was fine.

In those days, the vampires were much more active in their allegiances and politics.  Camilla was sure the only reason that Alexander had not discouraged Laurian's interest in his 'daughter' was because of the power that she had and the lineage she came from.  Camilla only knew that the first time she had met Laurian, she had felt like her heart had started beating again beneath her breast.  One look from those eyes that were as deep as the ocean and Camilla was lost.

They had been together for over a century.  More than half the time that Camilla had been a vampire.  Laurian taught her everything, from the controls, to helping her deal with the reality that she was a vampire.  

Camilla had spent the first portion of her life as this creature begrudgingly.  She had been forced to learn to master the powers that came inherent to her breed.  Just as everything about her becoming had been forced upon her.  Even after all this time, Alexander was like a distant father figure, harsh in his teachings and proud of her without really telling her.  He just always expected that she would excel at whatever she undertook.

When Laurian came into her life, for the first time, Camilla learned the finer details of appreciating what she was.  They did not spend every waking moment together, but in the course of the last century, more of their time than not was together.

Camilla never knew anything about the details of the war between the houses, when there were still houses that cared.  All she knew was that ultimately, that night in that city a minor skirmish in the overall war that ensued, Laurian lie dead in the streets by Herod's hand.  Camilla had been unable to do anything, Laurian had protected her and ultimately, she had been too weak to defeat Herod.

Camilla felt tears slipping out of her eyes.  The memory of holding Laurian's dying form and Laurian's own surprised expression at the impending death she felt.  The light in her beautiful green eyes fading as she gazed up at Camilla.  "We do not speak the words I am about to say, but you have to know, I have loved you as no other, in my mortal life or since.  Camilla, my sweetest perfection, I love you."

Then she was dead and Camilla couldn't even weep over the body, as true to their species, she disintegrated into dust and the night wind began to blow her remains away.  Only her clothes remained, and Camilla had left them in the street when she finally walked away, sensing morning approaching.  It was not the light she sought refuge from, it was the people who were going to be moving through the streets.

She cried through the day, into the next evening and slept in a place far away from the home she and Laurian had shared.  She never went back to that home.  She was gone for years before she returned one night and stormed into Alexander's study and demanded that they destroy Herod.  Alexander, without displaying any sign that he had heard the news of Laurian's death or that she had been gone since that night merely said.  "We have been at war with Herod, I am glad to see you now choose to become engaged in the role you were bred for."

Camilla had become engaged.  So engaged that she ultimately led the attack on Herod's house and in a manner, tore it down brick by brick.  It was then that Camilla proved herself to be more than worthy of Alexander's legacy.  From that moment forward, there were few who questioned the fact that she was to be his successor and his namesake above all others.

She herself had battled Herod.  She was convinced she had killed him.  Did she wait to watch him turn to dust?  No, because she had destroyed him, she had done so much damage to him.  She had flayed him alive.  That would explain the scarring.  Stupid, she had been so stupid.

Exhausted, Camilla finally fell asleep, even though it was far too early for her to actually be considering such a thing.

Hellsing watched the creature on the security monitors.  She was crying?  She did not believe them to be capable of emotion.  Of course, today was the day of firsts; she had seen Arucard angry today.

Hellsing lit one of her Henri Winterman's cigars and watched, as it appeared the creature finally fell asleep.  Hellsing had some appreciation of the creature's resolve.  She saw how only when she was alone did she display any indication of pain.  If Hellsing thought about it too long, then she would have to think about how much pain the creature must have suffered.

"Sir, you asked me to join you?"  Seras announced as she entered the office.

Hellsing turned away from the monitor and faced Seras.  They had not ever spoken much, and certainly not one on one.  

"What happened tonight?"  Hellsing asked abruptly.

"Sir?"  Seras responded with confusion in her voice.

"You could see what I could not, tell me what happened tonight."  Hellsing said again.

"Camilla appeared to be protecting the humans in the vicinity and she was attacked quite viciously."  Seras answered.

Hellsing inhaled on the small cigar.  She paused, not sure what else she wanted to know.  That was not what she wanted to hear.

"What else?"  

"I, I am not sure.  There was so much that I could not understand.  There was, there seemed to be a disagreement.  She refused to let anyone use any powers that would harm any of the troops.  She, I think she was defending everyone.  The other creature called Camilla something.  Bastard child, and he called her an abomination to the race.  The was so much more...I'm sorry I couldn't get more."

"That will be all."  Hellsing said curtly, turning away to face the monitors again, inhaling on her cigarillo.

Seras waited for a moment, and then let herself out.

Hellsing sat down at her desk and turned back towards the monitor.  She watched the creature sleeping for a while longer, and then went off towards her own room.

Called an abomination by an abomination?  How interesting was that?__

_*-*-_

Camilla awoke and smiled at Arucard sitting in the chair across from the bed.

_"You slept for a very long time.  It has been a full day and night since I last left you."  _Arucard said.__

_"I was apparently more wounded than I thought."  _Camilla answered.  She still felt weak which surprised her.__

_"Any chance that the wounded hero in battle routine has played to your favor?"  _Arucard asked with just the slightest twinge of humor.__

_"I think it will take more than that to ease her ire.  We have not actually spoken since my arrival."  _

Almost as if on cue, Hellsing entered the room.  She looked at Arucard and at Camilla who had just awoken.  

Arucard gave her a wicked grin and stood to exit the room.

_"Good luck."  _Arucard whispered as he left.__

_"Why do you walk from this room?  And thanks."  _Camilla answered.__

_"The room that protects you from our kind also means I cannot use most of our powers."  _Arucard said as he left.

Hellsing sat down in the chair most recently vacated by Arucard.  Her eyes fixed on Camilla and she did not say anything.  

Camilla returned her gaze calmly.  She knew that this Hellsing was unlike the others she had dealt with.  She assumed it would happen eventually, that at some point the true purpose of the Hellsing organization would be forgotten and only the dogma would remain.  Of course, she had not expected that her own breed would become what they had become.  

"You are an intriguing creature.  Perhaps you would like to take this opportunity to explain yourself to me?  Why would another of your kind call you an abomination?"  Hellsing finally said, the tone of her voice as cold as the chill in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, was that your pet name for me?  I am sure you can think of another."  Camilla replied, non-plussed by the cold anger emanating from the woman sitting across from her.

Helsing's eyes narrowed even more.

"Forgive my jest, what would you like to know?"  Camilla answered, a small smile still playing at the edge of her lips.

"You tell me why there are so many vampires, true vampires, prowling in my city.  Who is this creature that attacked yesterday?  Have you bought a war to my land?"  Hellsing demanded.

Camilla emitted what sounded like a sigh.  Hellsing did not like that sound.  This creature displayed far too many human characteristics.

"You wish to know about Herod?  Very well then, I am going to ask that you listen to this story with as little judgment as possible.  I do not believe you will be able to refrain, but this is a story that none, save those of my legacy, are aware of."  Camilla said, her tone serious, as she made sure to capture and hold the angry woman's gaze.

"I do not negotiate with abominations."  Hellsing answered quickly.

"Ah see, it is a pet name…Integra Hellsing, I do not expect that you would negotiate.  I will have to trust that you are a woman of honor and I would expect nothing less from a Hellsing."

Over the course of the next 4 hours, Camilla spoke and told Integra an abbreviated version of her origin and the story of Laurian and Herod.  Despite her resolve to not allow the grief from earlier to take over, she can hear her voice cracking and the tears welling up.  She fought past the lump in her throat to finish telling of Laurian's death.  She did not share with Hellsing the final words that Laurian spoke to her.

When she finished, she closed her eyes, and tears slipped down her face for the first time since she began telling the story.  She sensed the young Hellsing leaving the room and realized that she was glad she was gone.  Camilla opened her eyes and saw that new bags of medical blood sat on the table.  She lifted her covers and realized that her other clothes had been removed and she had been cleaned.  Despite herself she shuddered, moments like that always reminded her of the 'invisible' hands that had cared and cleaned for her in the months before she was forced into changing.

Integra stormed through the labyrinth of halls back towards her office.  She was battling so many emotions after hearing the tale from Camilla's lips.  It was deeply disturbing to her to listen to the creature talk about love and pain.  Worse than hearing it was seeing how much pain even re-telling the story caused the creature.  Hellsing had never given any thought to the life Arucard may have lived before he had been captured and kept in the far reaches of the Hellsing castle.  She had never given any thought that vampires were nothing more than disgusting creatures that were little more than undead beasts to be slaughtered.  Certainly, she never expected that they would deign to love or feel pain.

She did not like this slippery ground she felt herself walking on.  The creed by which she lived her entire life was very simple.  Even worse, she felt herself drawn to Camilla and that was the most unsettling thing of all.  She had been reading, from the Hellsing library, and she did find tales of Camilla.  Of course, they were as she expected, Camilla was a seducer of young women apparently and they all eventually fell ill and only recovered when Camilla had been banished.  

Hellsing walked into her office and turned towards the monitor again.  Camilla had just finished eating, such as it were, and was moving back towards the bed.  Hellsing saw that there were still raw red marks across her back and torso.  She did not think that vampires suffered physical wounds.  This was becoming curiouser and curiouser.  

She picked up the phone and called Walter.  She asks to see Seras again and arranges for another meeting with her field commanders.  If there was going to be a vampire war on her territory, she was going to make sure this opportunity wasn't wasted.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer information: All characters belong to their proper copyrighted owners.  The descriptions of the vampire society and even how they come by their powers are my own invention.  Please use your own discretion in reading, as the content of the story will lead towards 'Yuri" and possibly lemon (I do not know the criteria of these definitions) which accounts for the R rating as there will be, in the upcoming chapters some violence and other adult themes.  This timeline takes place after the Incognito incident after the series end.  I have not read the Manga and the assumptions regarding Arucard and his 'age' were based upon a now defunct fan site called "Intensity-Integral Shrine".  If you have not seen the following website Solid & Etc you should get there as soon as you can.  It is some of the most astonishing Hellsing inspired art I have ever seen.  Reviews and feedback are welcome.  ****

Chapter 4 

****

Arucard sat patiently in the damp mausoleum.  He hated that he had to be here but Camilla's being wounded dictated he had to bear witness to this council.

It had been so long since the house had met that there was a mixed sense of uneasiness and camaraderie.  In the centuries, as they passed, the traditions that had dictated so much of their lives began to fade into the background.  There were so few of the ancients that even bothered to show themselves anymore that age old feuds and politics had lost their meaning with each successive generation.

He listened as they talked about reviving the war.  All that were here were his own 'kin' or loyal to Camilla for their own reasons.  Descendants, or descendants of descendants of Alexander, or even further down the line than that.  He suspected many of them were here because they wanted to see a gathering of the House of Alexander.  This would be the first in many centuries that such a gathering took place.

They were all here and many of the elders were furious that Herod had dared to attack Camilla with no other declaration.

This was what he spoke of, when he tried to let Hellsing know that there were laws that she had no understanding of.  He could no sooner attack Camilla than attack Hellsing.  It would be the undoing of him.  

All the other true vampires he had fought, he knew of where they had come from, but in the looser world of the later centuries, many were now 'rogue'.  That meant that they could be killed without fear of reprisal from the houses.

"Arucard, you come to represent the house of Alexander in Camilla's absence?"  The eldest vampire present spoke to Arucard.

"I do.  I will say what she said to me.  There is to be no war.  This battle is hers to fight and she seeks no other aid."  Arucard replied.

"That is not acceptable."  The eldest spoke again.

"Do I enjoy her words?  No.  However, I will respect that I cannot engage until Camilla can be reasoned with and come to the decision that war is all we have left.  She would say that if we fight amongst ourselves, then we have already weakened our selves to our enemies.  We will wait another day."  Arucard replied.  He was stating the truth, he hated that he could not hunt down Herod and destroy him but he also knew that a vampire war could drag on for centuries, so he would wait for Camilla to speak for herself.

The other vampires nodded at his words.  Then began to speak.  Arucard knew he was going to be here for a while, his kind, could be, incredibly verbose.

*-*

Camilla opened her eyes.  She checked against her own internal clock and estimated that another night had passed and it is daylight once again.  She is almost fully healed.  She was surprised she had taken as much damage as she did; it had been so long since she had truly been beaten.

She stretched and luxuriated against the Egyptian cotton sheets.  Camilla glanced over at the table and noticed that there are no replacement bags of the medical blood.

"That is a very nice invention.  I will have to look into getting a supply of that stored."  She thought to herself remembering the convenience of the medical bag.  She smiled wryly to herself, as she thought about all the 'conveniences' now available in this new millennium world.

She got out of bed and walked around the room.  Now that she is healed, she felt confined.  She turns her head; she can sense Hellsing coming down the hall.

Integra enters the room and looks first to the bed and seeing Camilla is not there looks around the room.  She sees the other woman standing across the room, gazing at her calmly with her dark eyes.  Her hair is unbound and ripples across her shoulders and down her back like a sheet of black silk.  Even after 3 days of recuperating, she still had that calm air about her.

"May I sit?"  Hellsing asks as she moves towards the table.

"Of course."  Camilla replies.  "I would offer you tea but I am afraid that I do not know my way around."

"Please, there is no need."  Hellsing said as she sat down and looked at Camilla.

Camilla moved towards the table and sat across from Integra.

"How are you feeling?"  Integra asked.

"Much better, thank you for your kindness."  Camilla replied, a small smile crossing her lips.

"It was not kindness."  Integra answered quickly.  

"Can you tell me Integra, I understand how you feel about my kind, what I cannot gauge, is how do you feel about me?  Do you truly think I would bring a war to your door?" 

"You did not know he was here."  Hellsing answered, narrowing her eyes.  She liked the sound of her name rolling off Camilla's tongue with that slight accent. 

Camilla smiled again, and this time, Hellsing thought there was more sorrow than joy in that smile.

"No, no I did not.  Sometimes, it is very tiring to move through the years and never be able to forget or to have your regrets follow you and in this case, come back for revenge.  I think there was a quote I always believed summed up the difference between my kind and humanity.  'Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs.'"

Hellsing was quiet.  There it was again, that disconcerting feeling about Camilla, as if she should actually feel sympathy for this creature.  A vampire that could quote one of the Bronte sister's, she had never actually felt as if Arucard had any interest in literature or art.  

Camilla could sense that Integra was uncomfortable, although she was not sure why.  She moved the conversation into safer territory.  She could pry and read her thoughts, but she would not disrespect the willful woman before her with that trick.  Camilla began speaking of some trivial item she had noticed about London.  She was nothing if not a skilled conversationalist.

Hellsing surprisingly followed the conversation into the safer territory.  

The conversation was polite and Hellsing found herself engaged by Camilla's intelligence and wit.  Likewise on Camilla's part.  Once she was able to get past Integra's initial guardrails, she found the woman to be quite charming.

Well into the conversation, without missing a beat, Hellsing reached into her pocket and pulled out a small silver pocketknife.  She unfolded it and quickly drew the blade across the palm of her hand.  Not a deep cut but enough that a well of blood rises in the valley of the cut and began to pool in her hand.  Hellsing turned her palm downward and the blood dripped on the polished wooden floor.

Camilla did not stop her storytelling, a trivial tale of Hellsing's grandfather and his penchant for certain French delicacies.  

The scent of the other woman's blood stirred the hunger within her.  Camilla realized that there was a reason why there was no blood left for her.  

"But Monsieur, I assure you, she is with me."  Camilla finished the story.

Hellsing laughs at the punch line, of her grandfather and a French serving woman in the finer part of Paris looking for his delicacy, and his comment to the French storekeeper.  Her blue eyes never left Camilla's face, she was watching the other woman intently.  The pain in her hand only mildly stinging as the blood slowed to a trickle.  She squeezed her hand into a fist to re-open the wound and the blood began to flow again.

Camilla smiled in return, but now the conversation has stopped.  She can feel the hunger tickling across her spine.  It is almost surreal to her, that the creature she is hungers for the blood dripping from the hand of the woman across from her, and at the same time, knowing she would never allow herself to take any of Integra's blood.  Primal need and rational thought waged a war that she did not display outwardly.

"I confess, I must still be slightly overtired, would you please excuse me for a moment?"  Camilla finally said, breaking the silence.

"I wish you wouldn't, I find your stories to be absolutely brilliant.  Will you indulge me again? With another?"  Integra replied, smiling a rare but winsome smile.

Camilla smiled again, although the scent of blood is overpowering to her now and she has that feeling, the one she likens to what she remembers desire feeling like.  An electricity running through her veins, but this was not desire; this was a hunger deeper than any physical lust.

Camilla focuses on holding Integra's gaze.  "I would love nothing more."

Integra noticed, not for the first time, that Camilla was a striking woman.  Not in the way that Arucard was, no hers was an eerie combination of human like beauty and something else.  In her current state of dishevelment, she was beautiful and almost innocent.  When she looked at her, with those dark eyes, holding her gaze, Integra would have that disconcerting feeling creep up on her again.  

Integra narrowed her eyes slightly; she wasn't listening to Camilla now so much as just letting the cadence of her soft voice rise and fall.  Why did she find it soothing to listen to Camilla talk?  That was not why she had come down to see her.  There…Integra smiled to herself, Camilla's dark eyes were beginning to display the red fire that Integra normally associated with Arucard's gaze.  When the red fire began to flicker in those eyes, her that feeling was chased away and she could distance herself from that disconcertion.

Camilla could feel the hunger now in every fiber of her being, racing through her entire body.  She caught the look in Integra's eyes and paused in her story.

"Lord Hellsing, what was the purpose of this exercise?"  She asked softly.

Hellsing pulled out a silk handkerchief from her pocket and began to wrap her hand.  "Exercise? I thought we were merely having a conversation."  She replied coolly, her defenses well in place again.

Camilla nodded; she would not be forced to act on her hunger.  She was not just some creature to be provoked.  

"I understand.  You wanted to make sure I was still the abomination you believed me to be.  You mistake however the reason for my weakness.  It is not the blood that causes the electricity to thrill along my spine.  It is you.  

"The blood…As distasteful as it will sound to you, arouses a passion in me.  It is part of the creature I am.  Yes, creature.  You think I do not know that I have a fury within me that I have spent my entire immortal life trying to quell.  Whatever you think you know about my kind, it is only what has been exposed to you.  You have seen and hunted those who mistake the power for some kind of directive that we are a superior race and as such, can act as we please.  The same problem exists within the human race.  It was not a vampire that betrayed you not too long ago, was it?  It was a human…" Camilla paused, then stood.

"There are those among my kind that are too weak to live with this contradiction of feral hunger and human emotion.  I promise you, on my word, as the daughter of a tribe long forgotten by history, your blood will never pass my lips Integra Hellsing."  Camilla sighed. 

"You have proved your point, it is apparent to me that my welcome here has expired."  Camilla began to move towards the door.  

Hellsing stepped in front of her.  "Why do you speak as if you were a human when you clearly are not?"

"Why do you act like a heartless creature when you clearly are not?"  Camilla replied, the red fire shimmering along the edge of her dark pupils as she stared into Integra Hellsing's Nordic blue eyes.  

"You would dare speak to me such?"  Integra moved closer to Camilla.  She realized her mistake only as soon as she got closer.

"I would dare to do much more than that."  Camilla whispered softly into Integra's ear before she moved past her.  Her own hand briefly resting on Hellsing's own before she headed out the door.  Once she was in the hallway, her presence disappeared into the very shadows.    

Integra stood there; realizing that her heart beat had accelerated.  Her skin burned where the cool touch of Camilla's hand had paused.  She felt the spark of anger and let it blaze to life to extinguish this other feeling.  This other feeling that left her feeling helpless by her own doing.

*-*

"She has re-appeared again Milord."  

Herod turned his head to gaze at the sniveling creature that knelt before him.  None of his new line had the strength of his first family.  Some showed promise but they struck him as so dim witted it was like having a pack of wild dogs.  None of the other houses were interested in his vendetta.  

"Let the past stay dead, the houses no longer war amongst themselves."  

How often had he heard that?  Those he thought to be allies had become lazy and complacent.  The rogue breed could be bought and he had some of them lined up, but he had been sickened that none of the other houses wanted to bring down the aberration of Alexander's successor.

"I expected she would.  She had to recover.  Interesting that she should be able to find a place that I cannot sense.  When will the summoning be complete?"

"The mage says he will need more bodies, and the doppelganger is…Well…You will have to confirm it is what you expected."

Herod turned away.  Soon, he would have Camilla crawling before him, begging for mercy.  He would let her bleed as he bled and not die.  He would bring her down once and for all.  Alexander's little experiment, his precious 'daughter'.  She was a disgrace to their kind.

*-*

Camilla appeared before the Council of her peers and loyalists.  Arucard looked bored beyond belief.  She suspected he had done as she asked and had been here since she last saw him listening to all the reasons why they should go to war.

_"I will not declare a war on the house of Herod because there is no house of Herod.  There is only Herod and his gaggle of fresh blood.  Barely totaling my age between the lot of them."  _Camilla spoke, in the manner that her kind often did when together, interrupting the current debate.

_"Camilla."_

_"My liege."_

_"Lady Camilla."_

_"My lord."_

_"Milady."_

Several murmured responses and bowed slightly in her direction.

_"There shall be no war in this city.  The time has past when we could wage open war across the streets.  The cities are packed now.  I know what Herod wants and I will give him the battle he seeks, but I will not do it in this city."_

_"Begging your pardon, but we are not the ones who engaged in this battle. It was Herod who bought this to us."  _

_"I am well aware of what Herod has bought to us, and I am saying that he is not worth this entire effort."_

_"M'liege…He would have, could have killed you." _

_"Perhaps.  I was ill prepared and I thank you all for coming to aid me.  We cannot take action now.  We must discover all that we can.  How could Herod have been alive all this time and none of us, not one, knew?"  _Camilla asked.

_"Maybe that is not the right question.  The better question might be why did no one mention that he was still alive?"  _Arucard finally spoke.  He always trusted Camilla to run the politics of the family name.  She was Alexander's heiress in the truest sense of the word but sometimes, he believe she trusted those around her far too much.  Integra was like that as well.  Evidenced by the fact of the most recent betrayal that she had experienced when he was battling the vampire from the dark continent.__

The others turned to look at him.  Camilla did not.  She walked through the group of them and sat on the stone inlay before them.

Arucard settled back in.  This was going to take awhile longer.

*-*

Hellsing sat at her desk.  She was reading through an old leather bound book, searching for details of the names that Camilla had told her in the course of her story.  It was not an easy task but she found some information on Herod, mostly that he had been destroyed.

Hellsing scoured the archives and could not find more than a mere mention of Camilla.  There is reference time and again of the journal, but unlike Walter's recollection, it did not appear to be her great grandfather's.  Unless she misunderstood what she was reading, Hellsing began to suspect that it was Camilla's own journal and she had left it with the Hellsing organization.  

"Very interesting."  She murmured aloud.

"Suddenly, I am interesting."  Camilla said from her position in the chair she had been settled in.

Hellsing startled at her presence.

"How did you…" Hellsing started.

"Get in with you unawares? I know, I am baffled by it as well; I thought I had made a better impression than that.  I guess not."  Camilla replied, smiling at Integra.

"I wanted to speak to you, about before.  You were right in your assumption.  I wanted to see the evidence of the abomination, the creature, that I know you are."  Hellsing said, picking up a cigar and moving to light it.

"I know.  You were right to make sure you confirmed the creature I am.  I have never denied what I am Integra.  I would not be so presumptuous as to try and deny what I am before you of all people.  But all is well, since you are calling me by my pet name again."  

Hellsing inhaled and then exhaled slowly.  She narrowed her eyes as she looked like she was weighing her response.  Finally, she spoke.

"I do have a question for you, what did you mean when you said you would dare to do more?"    

Camilla smiled again, this time coyly.  "Do you really have to ask?  I find you to be…Most intriguing as well."

Hellsing blushed at Camilla's response.  "You…you mean to imply…" She stammered.

"Surely you have read the fictions written about me, it is true, I have a weakness for beauty and strength.  When you have lived as long as I have lived, one discovers that gender plays little factor in one's attractions.  You are quite the combination of aesthetic beauty and a depth of strength I can only imagine."  Camilla said, her smile broadening.

"That would be blasphemy.  To…With a creature…" Hellsing struggled to articulate her outrage at the very suggestion.

"There are those that would say it was blasphemy only because I am a woman and being the creature I am has little to do with it.  Relax Integra, I would never be so bold as to act on any 'passing fancy' as Arucard would say, unless you were equally intrigued."  Camilla said, laughing softly.  In the past 3 days, she had been meeting with members of the council, talking to advisors privately and in groups.  Herod had been quiet, which only made her more nervous.  Truth be told, while this flirtation with Integra was nice, Camilla knew to go any further would endanger the entire Hellsing organization and she was not willing to do that.

"You are incorrigible.  I cannot believe the audacity you have."  Hellsing finally articulated.

"I said to you once before, do not shun what you do not know."  Camilla replied, rising with a small leather-bound notebook in her hand, she placed it on the desk before Integra and began to fade.

"Herod is a dangerous enemy, do not make the mistake that modern weapons will fare any better against him than my own powers."  Was her parting comment before she disappeared.

Hellsing picked up the small notebook.  It was Camilla's journal, she was sure of it.  She flipped it open; she would have some homework to do.  The beginnings were written in a dialect, one she did not recognize.  Some Latin…She thought about the last exchange with Camilla, Hellsing knew that Camilla had to already know she was having an effect on her.  However, Integra Hellsing was not one to give in so easily to base emotions, least of all when an abomination was concerned.  Pet name indeed…

Walter stepped in the room.  Lord Hellsing was reading very intently and making notes in a notebook.

"Lord Hellsing."  Walter bowed as he approached bearing a tray of tea.

"Walter."  She replied without looking up.

"May I inquire what you are reading?"  Walter asked as he set the tea tray down.

"I believe it to be Camilla's journal."  She said, finally putting the journal down.

Walter raised an eyebrow but did not speak.  Instead he began to start preparing the cups of tea.

**How long has it been since I have been this creature?  I would have to know how time is measured again, and it seems to keep changing, every time I think I know, I appear to be wrong.  It has been sometime since I learned to master the reading and writing so I could record my life.  It is strange, my tribe, we spoke of everything, and those we spoke it to, we remembered.  So many stories, perhaps, I can capture some of those stories in this journal.  That would be more interesting that the life, if you could call it that, which I am forced to endure.  How many years now, have I lived as this dark creature of the night?  How long has it been before Alexander broke me? Alexander…He still expects me to believe that he is my father.  What father destroys his own child?  I still have scars, as if he could beat the humanity out of me.  I should not dwell on the turning; it only makes me angry all over again.**

**The others they do not know what to do with me either.  They watch me, as if waiting for me to do something.  I have nothing to do, especially if they expect me to do it at Alexander's behest.  There is nothing about this life that I find appealing, and yet, with the strange instinct of self-preservation, there is nothing that I can do to stop living this life.  I have found that the one benefit this life brings is the ability to destroy those vermin of the evening hours.  Those that prey on the weak and the helpless, I like to show them what it means to be helpless.**

**Alexander thinks this is a sign, that I am willing to take a human life, that I am becoming like him.  I am nothing like him.  He even knows that, since, unlike, him, I can walk in the light of day, I can see what it is I have become.  I am, as he likes to boast, the best of both worlds.  **

**More decades have passed, I think.  I can finally look back on my transformation and not become completely enraged.  I am still angry but the time has come to recount what I have been trying to avoid and that is how I became this creature.  I am not sure why I need to write this down, it is not like I am going to forget it, but since I have learned this skill of writing, I wonder if there will ever come a day, when I die, that this information should be here.  **

**Alexander was persistent and brutal in the months that passed since my first arrival into his home.  It was so damned important to him that I accept willingly the transformation that he offered me.  Time and time again I spat in his face.  Until the day, how many days, weeks, months had it been, I could not continue to mutter the name of my tribe.  I could barely remember my name or the name of my parents.  I was getting to the point where I could not remember when my body did not hurt, I could not move without pain.  There was a day, when I was carried past a large shield, that I saw the scars across my back.  Each time, Alexander would ask.  One day, he did not ask, the pain stopped long enough for me to see him, standing over me, as he always did.  He grabbed me by my neck and put his face before mine.  His eyes blazed into mine and he drew his lips back.  I could see, for the first time, the creature my tribe called 'Upir'.  Then that word over time became 'vampire'.  His eyes were blood red, his fangs extended and the familiar features I had tried to ignore since my arrival were fading quickly into shadow and darkness.**

**"I am tired of coddling you Camilla.  I am your sire, and you will learn what that means.  I am your master until you prove to me you don't need a master any longer."  He hissed.**

**He turned my body away from him and I felt his fangs slice into my neck.  I struggled; I remember that, to no avail.  He drained me until I was faint, and then tossed me to the floor.  He opened his wrist and held it to my lips.  I tried not to drink, but he gripped my jaw in his hands and pried my mouth open.  I was too weak to fight as his blood filled my mouth.  I finally had to swallow and felt the burning all the way into my gut.  He filled my mouth again and again I had to swallow.  I began to try to rise and he snapped my neck with the hand that still gripped me.**

**There was nothing but darkness.  I was dead.  When I awoke, it was 3 days later.  Alexander was waiting at the edge of my bed, I tried to lunge at him but found that I had been bound by rope and chain.  I snarled at him and then stopped.  I was not an animal.  I fell back against the bed.  Alexander did not bother to speak to me, but instead dug his fangs into my neck again.  I struggled again, but again, it was to no avail.  This time, Alexander drained me almost entirely.  The difference was, this time, when he opened his wrist and the blood began to flow, I felt a hunger that threatened to overwhelm me.  When he held it to my lips, it was all I could do to not lunge up again.  I opened my mouth and drank, eagerly, hungrily.  And he snapped my neck again.**

**He did that to me three times.  The last time, when I awoke again, he sat again on the bed and this time, he only waited.  He moved and despite myself, I twitched.**

**_"You are so willful.  I admire that in you.  I have chosen probably as wisely as I ever have in my life, and that is saying a lot.  You are, unlike anything before you, or since.  You are flesh of my flesh, your parents, and your mother especially, there was an entire season where we practiced the magick of your tribe and my own powers to conceive you.  Now, you are exactly all that I envisioned."_**

****

**_"You are nothing to me.  You are less than nothing to me."  He was surprised that I could communicate back via this method of the mind.  Truth be told, so was I._**

****

**He released me then and said to me, in the speech of humans.  "Your choice will be your own, but you are what you are now.  You are my heir in every sense of the word and with our kind, I can wait until you know what that means.  You will always be welcome in my house and among my kin."**

**Naturally, I escaped the house as quickly as possible.  It was a mistake but of course, Alexander knew that and bothered not to tell me.  The stories of my first months as this creature are not nearly as interesting as I make them sound.  I was hunted by Alexander's enemies, vampire enemies in general and had to learn how to survive on my own.  To dwell on that bleak time would serve no purpose.  Plus, I would not bother to give name to them, many who are already faded in the dust of time.  That was the impetus for learning the controls.  There are so many controls and I cannot even begin to imagine learning them all.  Of all the things that being this creature involves, I must say that this was the most intriguing.**

Hellsing looked up from her reading and sipped her tea.  Walter was non-committal as he also sipped his tea.

"So, it would appear as though the lie is consistent from what you understood and what she has said before."  Hellsing said.

"Indeed." Walter agreed.

"What did you mean when you said she was an anomaly even among her own kind?  Were you referring to this thing that she refers to? This 'specialness' that her sire speaks of?"  Hellsing asked as she flipped ahead in the journal.  She paused when she saw the name 'Laurian'.

"I think she has said more about it than I could possibly know."  Walter deferred answering.

"What do you know of this other vampire she speaks of? Laurian?"  Hellsing continued, pausing only to begin flipping back through the journal until she thought she located the first time she saw the name mentioned.

**I met a woman at Alexander's court today.  Laurian was the only name she would give me when I asked.  I cannot tell you how beautiful she is.  I am used to seeing the preening and primping peacocks that gather to Alexander's court, but she outshone them all.**

**She has eyes that are astonishingly green.  I could see them gazing at me from across the room.  She commands the room.  Almost as much as Alexander does when he walks into the room.  I have never felt like this before.  I find it to be somewhat disconcerting that a creature such as myself would have this effect.  I have been taken with the human form but nothing like this.**

**It has been 6 years since I first met Laurian.  I find this to be the strangest statement I could possibly make, but I wonder if it is possible to be in love being the creature that I am.  I think she is simply amazing.  I have learned more from her about the power that is inherent with the creatures we are than I have ever bothered to learn from Alexander.  Alexander is pleased, I can tell, he approves of Laurian.  Not that it truly matters to me that I have his blessing or not.  What intrigues me more and more is how I feel, the fact that I can feel.  For all of Alexander's 'instructions', I find that I cannot remove the right and wrong from each action.  Laurian and I spend hours, days, discussing the depth of human emotion.  Human action, humanity.  She is like Alexander, they were not creatures 'created' or 'turned' by another, they were always vampires.  I am not sure I understand that, though we have talked many times.  She always knew what she was and never had reason to doubt it.  Never doubted her inherent right to exist, with all her powers.  She did say to me though, that the difference with the true species and those that came after was the clear understanding that with power such as theirs, came the responsibility to the species.  Such was the foundation for the houses, the councils, the rules and laws that came into being, for if left unchecked, especially the brutal leanings of those turned by the firsts and those after, that they would destroy themselves into extinction.  It is these talks that I love, ah, that word again, assigning such a strong emotion, about Laurian.  That and other things that appeal to my more primal instincts, but it is not for that that I cannot wait when I will see her again.**

Hellsing looked up again. 

"Milord is troubled to read such words from the abomination?  Your grandfather once referred to listening to her speak as if it were his own soul speaking to him.  He once said to me, 'Walter, my boy, Camilla is to her kind what we are to ours.  If we were ever turned, one could only hope that we could survive with as much compassion and wisdom as Camilla has.'"

Hellsing raised her eyebrow.

"I admit, I find it to be very odd that such a creature cares so much about humanity.  She is also quick to point out how lacking many of our own breed are.  How can one such as she have lived as long as she has with such compassion intact?"

"I cannot begin to imagine.  She and Arucard are unique in their own ways.  It has often made me wonder what their sire Alexander was like."  Walter replied.

"He sounds like a beast and not unlike most vampires we know of."  Hellsing replied curtly, and then asked, "Why would she give this to me?  She talks about workings of the machinations of vampire society."

"Do not worry milord, to find her intriguing is quite common.  She can be quite persuasive when she wants to be and she is a formidable force.  She really has not told us very much, as if all those machinations were incidental to her feelings for this woman, Laurian."  Walter said as he rose to collect the teacups and tea tray.

"So it would seem."  Was Hellsing's only reply.

*-*

Hellsing closed the journal.  She could not explain what she felt as she finished the last line.  Camilla did not write anything from the time she returned to take over the house of Alexander and past Herod.  She wrote very few details of the 100 years between Herod's destruction and the next series of adventures she wrote.  Hellsing could not help but notice that the tone of Camilla's journal was never as forthright or even as passionate as she had been during the beginning and through all her adventures with Laurian.  She did not even describe what she had done to exact her revenge on Herod.  She had written some things of Arucard, as well as some of the others that Alexander ultimately turned.  Hellsing realized again that the affairs of vampires was not unlike the affairs of the court from olden days.  There was politicking and manipulations that seemed to be quite intricate.  Camilla wrote about such affairs sparingly, Hellsing had the impression that she accepted the mantle of the house of Alexander cautiously.

Hellsing lit a cigar.  The more she discovered about Camilla the harder time she had comparing her against the light if her lifetime convictions.  Why had Walter told her what her grandfather had said?  Did her entire lineage know of this woman…Creature?  She was a creature.  How much had the creature trusted her, to give her that journal?  To let her realize, even if only surface descriptions, how things happened in that world?  There she went again, putting human terms to the creature's actions.

"You are attracted to her, are you not?"  Arucard said as he appeared in the room.

"I am not."  Hellsing replied without turning around.

"She is attracted to you.  I am not sure of the wisdom of such a thing.  It has been a very long time since she has even bothered to indulge in any kind of attraction and she has much to do in the coming weeks.  She has to keep her wits about her."  Arucard continued to speak, his voice calmer than Hellsing had ever heard it.

"And you? Where will you be in the coming battle?"  Hellsing asked.

"I will be where I am always."  Arucard replied.

"Are you sure?"  Hellsing said.

"I do not think, in this coming war, that the Hellsing Organization and the House of Alexander will be on opposite sides."  Arucard replied.

A few more minutes passed in silence.  The thin plume of smoke curled in the air above the chair Hellsing sat in.

When Hellsing turned to face Arucard, she discovered that he was gone.

How did she feel to know that Camilla was attracted to her as well?  No, wait, not as well.  So, the creature had expressed an interest in her, as was to be expected from a predator.  It was irrelevant information.  She picked up the phone and dialed Walter.  

"We have more planning."  She said before she hung up again.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer information: All characters belong to their proper copyrighted owners.  Please use your own discretion in reading, as the content of the story will lead towards 'Yuri" and possibly lemon (I do not know the criteria of these definitions) which accounts for the R rating as there will be, in the upcoming chapters some violence and other adult themes.  This timeline takes place after the Incognito incident after the series end.  I have not read the Manga and the assumptions regarding Arucard and his 'age' were based upon a now defunct fan site called "Intensity-Integral Shrine".  If you have not seen the following website Solid & Etc you should get there as soon as you can.  It is some of the most astonishing Hellsing inspired art I have ever seen.  Reviews and feedback are welcome. **Chapter 5**

Despite the flurry of activity at Herod's initial attack, the next months were quiet.  In that time, Camilla had taken to joining Integra Hellsing for afternoon tea, two more manifestations that had surprised Hellsing.

Camilla had only smiled as she sipped the tea.  "We are not creatures of the night, the shadows are preferred.  My own lineage makes me less susceptible to day light hours.  After all you know, you still believe the tales of old?  Perhaps, if you realize that I can appreciate a fine cup of tea, you will be slightly more forgiving my trespasses."

Over the days, weeks and months that passed, Hellsing begrudgingly admitted that her view of vampires had been very linear.  She also realized that Camilla was a very eloquent conversationalist.

The attacks against the FREAKS continued, but with the triad of vampires, Camilla, Arucard and Sera, now fighting for the Hellsing organization, the squad's casualties dropped while the FREAKS diminished as quickly as they were created.

Arucard observed that growing affection between his distant master and his sister.  He and the other members of the Council moved through the nights trying to find out what Herod was doing.  It had not taken long for them to discover it was only in the last century that he had begun contacting the other houses trying to gain allies.  None of them were interested in such a war, especially against the House of Alexander.

Arucard watched the other members as well, he remained convinced that there could very well be a traitor in their midst.  Lives as long as theirs meant that instead of letting small grievances go, their kind could fester and polish a grudge, waiting for the moment to strike.  Everyone makes unpopular decisions at one time or another Camilla was no different.

It had been over a year since Camilla had reappeared.  Seras had enjoyed having her around and had even met some of the other members of the Council.  She felt like a child amongst so many of power, and most of them barely deigned to recognize her existence.  It was as if her Master had cloned himself, so distant and enigmatic were they.  Except Camilla, who always took the time to visit with her after her afternoon talks with Hellsing.  

Seras had noticed, as had many in the household, that the daily chats with Camilla had mellowed Integra somewhat.  No one would dare make that observation to her face, except her Master, who enjoyed mentioning it from time to time.  Seras, like others, had initially been surprised to see the two women sitting out on the balcony, or in the garden when the weather turned, having their tea.  It was surprising to see the normally aloof and reserved Hellsing talking with such fervor and laughing.

The rare Hellsing smile was becoming less rare.  If she didn't know better, it would seem as though Lord Hellsing had a bit of a crush on Camilla.

Seras walked along the edge of the Hellsing estate.  She stopped and paused for a moment.  The air was still.  The commanders were meeting again.  Despite the growing trust towards Camilla, She suspected Hellsing was not going to let the opportune moment with so many vampires gathered in one place pass her by.

She left the estate and began walking along the winding road that led to the gates of the estate.  Seras thought about her most recent conversation with Camilla, and her even stranger one with Lord Hellsing.  Something was happening between the two women and Seras felt like each one was sending coded messages through her.

She wasn't sure why Lord Hellsing had bought up the events that occurred when Herod attacked Camilla again.  She was interested in finding out what was happening on that front but suspected she would never know.

She paused.  Something was out there.  How far had she walked? It was so hard since she had become a vampire how quickly she could cover ground when just walking.  She was miles away from the manor now.  

She sniffed the air.  Something was definitely out there.  She reached down and felt for her revolver.  She began walking again and heard the slightest rustle in the underbrush along the road.  She was being followed; there was no doubt about it now.

Seras kept walking until she felt the air behind her move.  She turned and pulled her revolver.  She rolled out of the way and found herself facing the slathering jaws of a FREAK.  She fired off two shots and watched as the FREAK's head exploded.  She could tell from the movement around her, there was more than just that one.  She leapt to her feet and tried to get a count.

Then she saw it, another one of those hellhounds from the warehouse fight.  FREAKS and the hellhounds together?  This was a new twist and couldn't possibly be a good one.  She twisted from the attacking FREAKS and fired rapid fire then flipped over the mass of them to land on the other side.  

Seras had rarely taken on this many FREAKS single handedly.  She had the clip in her gun and one more.  She could fight them hand to hand.  

The fighting was not as elegant as it was when it was her master or even Camilla fighting but it managed to get the job done.  Not without some blows that were going to hurt later.

Seras had emptied both clips and was fighting them as they came towards her.  When the hellhounds started to attack, she dodged them as best she could.  She couldn't kill them with her hands and she did not know any of the controls.

Just when she was wondering if maybe this was not the best plan of attack and determining an escape route she felt the air shift around her again and her master was there beside her.

"It would appear as though I cannot leave you unattended."  Arucard said as he began to quickly dispatch the FREAKS swarming towards them.

In the usual frenzy and grace that was her master, the FREAKS and the hellhounds were taken care of.  

When the night was quiet it again, she turned to face her master.

"I could have taken care of them…Eventually."  She said as she slipped her gun back into her holster.

"I am aware of that.  Come, we are going back to the mansion."  Arucard said as he covered her with his cloak.

Seras could never quite get used to the sensation of moving from one location to the next without her feet touching the ground.

*-*

Arucard looked at Camilla.  

_"You know it is not unheard of, this thing I ask."_

_"She is your progeny, you have no need for me to do this."  _Camilla protested.__

_"I want her to be of the house of Alexander, I have no use for the lineage or the house, but there may come a day when it will serve her to have the true blood of Alexander flowing in her veins.  She is coming into danger in this coming war.  I want her to have the blood."_

_"You are the true blood of Alexander.  He sired you himself."  _Camilla said, turning to look at Seras who was sitting quietly on her bed.__

Arucard did not reply he merely glared across at Camilla.  Camilla sighed, she knew what he was asking for and it was not uncalled for.

_"Very well."  _She turned to Seras.__

"Do you know what your master has asked of me? He has asked that I pass on my blood to you.  You do not have to do this, as with all things, you have a choice."  Camilla spoke to Seras softly, gently cupping her hand beneath Sera's chin.

Seras looked up into Camilla's dark eyes and smiled.

"I know.  And yes."  She replied earnestly.

"You know…That my blood will bring the hunger closer to the surface?"  Camilla said, a shadow passing over her gaze.

Seras looked down, and then back up into Camilla's gaze.  

"I know that."

Camilla looked over at Arucard, her eyes shadowed and for the first time in a long time, he could not read what was in them.

Camilla knelt beside Seras and murmured something softly in a tongue that Seras did not recognize.  Camilla drew her lips back and pierced her fangs into Seras's neck.  

Despite herself, Seras shuddered.  There was an almost orgasmic intensity to the feeling coursing through her body.  This went on for minutes, before Camilla pulled back.  Her eyes were now the same blazing red as Arucard's, her lips stained with blood.

She nodded to Arucard and then bent over Seras again.  Arucard placed himself near Seras mouth and nodded to her as well.  Camilla bit down on the wound she had already opened.  Seras shuddered again.

_"Feed from me."  _Arucard murmured in her mind. 

Seras drew her own lips back and then bit down on Arucard's neck.  Arucard turned his face towards Camilla's exposed neck and bit down as well.  Their bodies pressed together as each fed off the other.  

The same sensation coursed through all three, that electric chill along their spines, the almost too intense rush as the blood moved from each of them until there was almost no distinction.

_"Drink then, the blood of Alexander, with this, you are always home."  _Camilla whispered in their minds.

Integra watched on the monitor the entire transaction.  She watched Camilla bend her head over Seras neck and had she not known, would have thought the action nothing more than a gentle kiss.  She watched as the three of them knelt in a circle around each other and the incredibly intimate closeness they shared, each one bent over the other's necks.  Her cold blue eyes became even colder.  Integra would never have admitted this to anyone, but she was jealous.  Jealous that they should be able to touch their lips to her skin, jealous of Seras for Camilla's lips to her skin, jealous of the expression on all their faces.  It seemed like a very long time to Integra before Camilla appeared to collapse.  

Arucard and Seras both stopped drinking.  

_"Why didn't you stop us?"  _Arucard chastised Camilla.

_"There was nothing to stop, you cannot drain me, you know that.  It has, like do many things, been a very long time since I have shared my blood."  _Camilla replied.__

She smiled at Seras.  "You will feel slightly feverish for about a day and a night.  Once you are past that, I will explain to you the history of the house of Alexander."

Seras could only nod.  She had felt the power of her master when he had turned her, but this, this sensation coursing through her almost bordered on painful.  She moved to lay down on her bed.

Camilla rose and nodded to Arucard.

_"Now, brother of mine, we are done.  For now."  _Camilla said before she began to disappear.

Arucard only nodded as he too began to disappear.

Integra watched as Seras hit the lever built into the side of her bed and the coffin lid began to close.

When the room was still again, Hellsing turned away from the monitors.  She moved towards her own room.  Pausing to slide one of the slim cigars she enjoyed out of the its' case.  She lit it and puffed away slowly.  She exhaled in the quiet of her room.  It reflected very little about her but served its' function very well.  

Alone, in the stillness, she finally spoke the words aloud and they hung in the air.

"I dare you."

She waited a moment and then shook her head, as if to try and dismiss the childish folly of speaking out loud into emptiness.

"Finally…" Camilla's teasing tone filled the room and startled Hellsing.

"How do you know what it is I am daring?"  Hellsing said, her own tone light.  The past year had, if nothing, allowed her to step up to the teasing banter of Camilla.

"I can guess, Lord Hellsing, since I once told you I would dare more than…Are you sure?"  Camilla's teasing turned serious, as she fixed her dark gaze intently on Integra.

"What were you doing? With Seras?"  Hellsing turned questioning the woman who stood before her.  She fixed Camilla in a hard gaze, even though, inside, as always, she was rather glad to see the dark haired woman again.

"Business and family matters that are far too tedious to distract me from your dare.  What is it that you dare me to do?"  Camilla answered as she moved closer to Hellsing.

Integra didn't reply, she merely raised one eyebrow and gave the smallest of smiles.  There was no indication other than Camilla's mildly flushed features that she had just fed.

Camilla nodded and moved again, this time to stand right in front of Integra.

"Dare I do this?"  She murmured as she bent her head in towards Integra's lips.  Their lips touched tentatively.  Camilla kissing Hellsing with the lightest of pressure.  She pulled back and looked into Hellsing's eyes.

"Dare I do this?"  She said as she moved her hand up to run her fingers through the long blonde hair gently.

"Or even this?"  She whispered as she leaned forward again and flicked her tongue along Hellsing's earlobe.

"What is it that I would dare to do?"  Camilla murmured, drawing back and gazing into Integra's pale blue eyes, no longer as cold as they were before.

Hellsing drew a sharp intake of breath.  Her heart was pounding from the small attentions that Camilla had just lavished on her.

"You are presumptuous, to say the least."  She managed to reply, keeping her voice level.

"You forget that I can sense more than what your words say.  And I can tell you, your words they lie."  Camilla replied, leaning in again for another kiss.

Hellsing marveled again, how gentle the kiss was, and how incredibly human it felt.  There was a warmth and almost sweetness in the kiss.  Their bodies drew closer together and she could feel Camilla's arms gently encircling her.

If her body was succumbing to the finesse of Camilla's attention, a part of her mind rebelled.  Camilla was not a human being.  Those lips had just taken blood.  She was one of those creatures.  Her mind however was losing the battle compared to the reality of Camilla doing very human things to her.

She was surprised by the softness of Camilla's lips and even more surprised by the tenderness of her attention.  She felt herself kissing her back, demanding more attention from those skilled lips.  Any attempts at reason were now rapidly slipping away. 

Moments passed and Integra pulled back.  She found it difficult to catch her breath.  

Camilla also pulled away gently.  Integra noticed that the red around the rim of her dark eyes was slightly pronounced again.

"Integra…As much as I would love nothing more than to continue the exploration of the beautiful landscape that is you, we cannot."

Integra felt as if a shock of cold water had been thrown on her.

"Please…" Camilla whispered as she kissed Integra again.  

"Do not…I cannot endanger you.  This cannot go any further; Herod cannot know that I care for you.  If we persist, then the feelings that tickle the edge of my senses will overwhelm me.  The divine torture that I have spent every day this past year, I drown in the sensation of being near you."

Hellsing turned away.  She struggled to compose herself.  For two reasons, one, because all she wanted to do was quiet the reason of Camilla's protestations with more kisses.  The second was Camilla's almost admission of feelings she had for her?  Once again, the warring perceptions of Camilla as almost human and the creature that Hellsing knew she was struggled for control.  Despite the realization that she too had feelings for Camilla, she still could not throw away an entire lifetime of beliefs about what Camilla really was.

"Then, we should not persist, obviously."  She finally replied.

"Integra, I am sorry, you understand…" Camilla said, stepping back.

"I know.  This is the part where you say, you are doing what you can, are you going promise it won't hurt if I go in with my eyes open.  That you are only trying to save me."  Hellsing said, her voice cool.

"Integra.  Please.  I did not expect this to happen... I am trying to do the right thing, for both of us."  Camilla said, the sadness in her voice hanging in the room after her presence had faded.  

Integra sat down on the edge of her bed and despite herself, felt a flash of desire as she imagined what the evening could have become, if Camilla had not stopped it.

"Ridiculous."  She said out loud.  She picked up her still smoldering cigarillo from the ashtray and moved back towards her office.  She wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.

*-*

_"You went to her, didn't you?  After Seras, that was dangerous."_  Arucard said as Camilla appeared in the catacombs.

_"Do not start with me little brother.  It was not the intention I started out with."  _

_"You lie then.  You have been 'intrigued' by her since the first meeting.  Why else cultivate her affection with your daily chats?"  _Arucard laughed.__

_"Flirtation yes…More than that.  No.  She is more complex; you know what she is like.  Irrepressible, moving through life as if her sheer force of will and presence will bend everything to her view.  And yet, she bears the burden of her position without complaint."  _Camilla replied, distractedly.__

_"Perhaps you identify with her position rather than the woman."  _Arucard replied.__

_"You make it sound like that is what I am."  _Camilla laughed.__

_"Isn't it?"_

_"Ahh yes.  In this incredibly complex game we play of power, intrigue and immortality it is only those who master its rules and machinations survive.  Isn't that right?  Yet we sacrifice our humanity, some of us do so willingly, some of us, with bitterness.  How are we supposed to deal with this creature that resides within us; This dark side that bursts from us like a force of nature and with such violence that we can only stand by and witness the aftermath?  Is it any wonder that so many of us become such cursed creatures, emotional outcasts who forget the difference between right and wrong?"_

Arucard did not reply he merely raised an eyebrow.

_"Oh never mind.   All these are likely constructs, I know.  Don't you know it is inherent to the breed to brood?"  _Camilla snapped her reply.

_"I forget how passionate you become.  Yet, of us all, who has survived the longest with their compassion intact?  None of the other elders care a whit about the rest of the population that reside on this earth.  I cannot say I have much interest in their feeble lives.  Of course, it was rumored once upon a time that you did not care for the politics of the kin either, and yet, here you are, ruling the house of Alexander."   _Arucard answered calmly.

_"We control our actions because our survival depends on it.  One day, my brother, I shall answer any question you wish to ask of me."  _Camilla sighed.

_"I have never cared for your past.  I will never ask of anything from that time."  _Arucard replied, shifting away from Camilla as he detected the presence of the others arrive.

Camilla settled back against the large stone slab.  It had been dangerous to see Hellsing after the sharing of blood with Seras, even more dangerous to indulge the temptation of a kiss.  She had not lied when she spoke to Hellsing, it had been more lifetimes than she could count since she had felt this kind of actual connection to another being, least of all a human.  The days and evenings she had spent with Hellsing had truly been bittersweet.  She nodded as the council began to form.  However, she had not the time to worry about such things now.  All the latest intelligence indicated that Herod was planning his strike and planning it soon.

Arucard watched Camilla from across the chamber.  Her features were guarded as she greeted each of the attending elders and members of the council.  He had that sense of uneasiness that he had felt when she first returned.  There were so many powers at play and even he was not sure what would be left standing at the end of it.

*-*

Herod stood on the edge of the field.  It was almost time, when he would destroy the Halfling bitch that ran the house of Alexander.  He would destroy that house once and for all as he ground her beneath his heels.

"All is ready, I presume?  We have heard from those who are loyal to us?"  He asked of the sniveling underling beneath him.

"Yes milord.  Everything in its' place; there are those that are waiting outside the manor of the vampire hunters.  The informants have sent another report of the latest council meeting held by her."

"Perfect.  Let us wait then.  They are gathering."  Herod said, spreading from his human form into his creature form to fill the night sky.

*-*

Integra looked around the table at her elite commanders.  She was absolutely commanding in her full battle regalia.  She was dressed in her grey and crimson Royal Order of the Protestant Knights uniform, with a 9mm gun on her left hip and the sword forged from the melted silver of St Paul's cathedral crucifix from the 16th century with the Hellsing crest embedded in the hilt on her right.

"There are, in times of change, when strange allies are made to defeat an evil greater threat.  There will be those in the coming nights that there are vampires that we do not hunt.  There is a vampire, Herod, who has arisen from the grave; he brings the greatest threat, as he appears to be mobilizing the FREAKS.  We believe, he is teaching them about controls.

"Subsequently, this has put him at odds among other vampires.  So, in this instance, we allow them to exact their justice, and we assist in taking down as many of them and the FREAKS that we can.  We have been trying to track his movements for the last year, and even with our new allies, it has been difficult to track him."

"Milord.  What is the cause for this allegiance?  This has never before been required."  A young commander asked.

Hellsing fixed the young commander in that famous Hellsing gaze.  She did not answer for a moment.  He finally cleared his throat and averted his eyes from her icy glare.

"Apparently, it has been required in the past, it is recorded in the annals of Hellsing history.  The question, commander, is at what price should we consider victory?  When we are defeated because we are splintered and our enemy is not?  Or should we negotiate a truce?  Should we consider that the enemy of my enemy is my friend?"  She finally spoke.

"You are correct milord.  My apologies."  The young commander answered quickly.

"Your briefs have been updated.  There are 3 likely locations where we expect the battle to engage.  It is also expected that there will be an attack against the manor.  I expect to leave a single battalion here, but realize that it is only for the appearance that we are here.  If they breach the second perimeter, then the orders are to go underground into the tunnels below.  The rest of you, we will go to the midpoint and wait to be told where the battle finally is."  Hellsing explained as she nodded to the folders that lay before each of the commanders.

"And gentlemen, it is likely that this battle will not end this evening, or the next.  This is the first time that we are taking on a vampire this old.  Even with our temporary allies, I cannot make any guarantees of victory.  May God and the Queen be with you.  Amen"  

"Amen."  They replied in unison as they opened the folders and began examining the maps and intelligence contained within.  

The Hellsing troops moved through the underground tunnels.  The exception of the battalion left behind to act as if they were preparing the transports.

Walter followed behind the elite group that was tailing Lord Hellsing.  He smiled at her purposeful stride.  She was an imposing figure; leading the troops through the dim, damp tunnels, heading towards the actual transports that awaited them.

In the number of battles that he had seen with the Hellsing organization, he knew that this was going to be one of those battles for the history books.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer information: All characters belong to their proper copyrighted owners.  Please use your own discretion in reading, as the content of the story will lead towards 'Yuri" and possibly lemon (I do not know the criteria of these definitions) which accounts for the R rating as there will be, in the upcoming chapters some violence and other adult themes.  I have not read the Manga and the assumptions regarding Arucard and his 'age' were based upon a now defunct fan site called "Intensity-Integral Shrine".  If you have not seen the following website Solid & Etc you should get there as soon as you can.  It is some of the most astonishing Hellsing inspired art I have ever seen.  Reviews and feedback are welcome.  **** **** **Chapter 6**

****

Camilla walked in the dusky evening's light.  Her head was bowed as she walked towards the field.

_"You can quit following me and walk beside me."  _She paused.__

Arucard appeared beside her.

_"Has it been too soon to have Seras out?  I have hardly been able to teach her rudimentary controls."_

_"We do not have the benefit of time, ironically.  She is ready, she has a courageous heart."  _Camilla reassured him.__

_"Are you ready?  Herod has been cautious since he first attacked you.  Do we trust the intelligence?  I still believe there is one within our ranks who works to undermine you."  _Arucard said, giving voice to his concerns about the upcoming battle.

_"Only one?  You are more trusting than I remember.  The politics never dies.  They go underground but wait for the opportune moment to rise again.  Herod wants to see me crawl before him.  His motive is not very compelling but vengeance will take you farther than you would expect."  _Camilla replied, the teasing tone not quite covering her aloofness.

_"Then you knew?"  _Arucard asked, mildly surprised.

_"I think, my dear brother, that you sometimes think that my benevolence and compassion cloud my other qualities.  I did not survive in the chaos of the 500 years before you were sired based on those qualities.  Again, the irony is that, should anyone want to head the house of Alexander, I am not sure I would protest too much, but despite ourselves, we are bound to archaic laws and rituals."  _Camilla stopped and turned to face Arucard.__

_"If I perish in this battle, I want you to ensure that the House of Alexander does not fall.  You do not have to head it, but of all Alexander's offspring, it is you I trust the most.  I have already proclaimed as much to the council."_

_"You will not perish.  I personally will ensure that you live through this, if nothing more than to spare me the endless politics that will occur before the new head can be named."  _Arucard smiled his mad, wide grin at her.

_"That, I believe, is a promise you will keep."  _Camilla laughed as she turned back towards the field.

_"I have one last thing to attend to.  Herod is still gathering, I can feel his presence ahead."  _Camilla said as she disappeared in the shadows.__

_"Be careful.  Now is not the time for distractions."  _Arucard said to the emptiness.__

_"Nor regrets."  _Camilla's response softly echoed.__

Lord Hellsing sat in the front seat of the transport, smoking another cigar.  The driver, a sergeant kept glancing over at her nervously.

She watched the small screen of the laptop before her, listening to the commands and intelligence coming over the comlink headset nestled in her ear.  There were so many FREAKS gathering.  FREAKS and more from the satellite photos and infrared tracking they were using.

"Jesus!"  The driver exclaimed, slamming on the brakes of the transport.

Hellsing turned and faced him.  "Sergeant?"  She asked coolly.

"Sir, sorry sir."  He replied, pointing out the front windshield.

Hellsing turned and saw Camilla standing there.  Hellsing felt her breath catch in her throat.  She was striking, standing there in the glare of the headlights.  Hellsing had not seen her in almost two weeks, since she had left her alone in her room.  Camilla was dressed in dark pants, a white shirt and leather vest interwoven with chain mail.  Her hair was pulled back in a practical ponytail; still, a few of those dark ringlets escaped and framed her face.  Her dark cloak billowed behind her.

"Hellsing, offline.  Continue information gathering and wait for my command."  She spoke into the headset and then took it off.  She opened the transport door and stepped down into the street.

Camilla had the same reaction to Hellsing in full battle regalia as Hellsing had moments earlier.  If her heart still beat, it would ache at the beauty of this proud woman moving towards her.

"Lord Hellsing."  Camilla said, bowing slightly.

"Countess Camilla."  Hellsing replied, bowing in return.

"A word, before I reveal the 2 areas our intelligence believe Herod will appear."  Camilla said as she moved out of the headlights beams.

Hellsing followed her into the shadows.  

"Integra."  Camilla whispered into Hellsing's ear.  Hellsing felt the creature wrap her in her arms and embrace her from behind.  For a moment, she stayed in that embrace, feeling almost safe.  Then she turned so she was facing Camilla.

"I never thought you were a coward.  Have you been avoiding me?"  Hellsing asked, her face dangerously close to Camilla's.

"With every fiber of my being."  Camilla answered before she covered Integra's lips with her own.

They kissed was such intensity that when they finally broke apart, Integra's heart was racing and she could see the burning red rims of the vampire's eyes in the darkness before her.

"I have to say this, and then I must be gone.  If I perish in this coming battle, know that you have touched me in a way that I have not felt in many lifetimes.  If you do not think me too presumptuous, I have a token of my affection for you.  Should anything happen to me, you can use it to keep the true vampires of the house of Alexander out of your beloved London."  Camilla said, moving back so she could hold out a small gleaming item in the palm of her hand.

"Surely, if you perish, then who among us should feel as if we have a chance to survive?"  Hellsing responded with more brevity than she felt.

"It is I whom Herod wishes to destroy.  Should he succeed, I am not sure if he will learn that revenge is empty."  Camilla answered, her tone somber as she gazed into Integra's clear blue eyes.

Integra could only seen the barest shimmering redness in the shadows but felt the penetrating gaze of the vampire woman.

"Before you take my heart, reconsider.  You have the power to affect me in ways I cannot fathom."  Hellsing whispered.

"I know…"  Camilla answered.

She felt Camilla press the item from her hand into her own.

"Godspeed to you, Integra Hellsing."  Camilla said, embracing the younger woman and holding her tightly before she began to melt into the shadows.

"And may your own demons rise to serve you this night."  Integra whispered into the darkness.

She made her way back towards the transport.  She did not look at the sergeant as she opened her palm.  Inside was a slip of paper and a ring.  She looked at the paper, there were co-ordinates listed.  She placed the headset back over her ear.

"Hellsing online.  Confirm the following co-ordinates.  Do not engage, repeat, do not engage.  Secure the perimeter."  She barked into the headset as she held the ring up to examine it.  It was a simple band, white gold from the gleam, with a single red ruby set in the center.  It was a ring that she had seen Camilla wear often.  She narrowed her eyes, on one side of the gem was an intricate design that looked to be part rune, part crest, presumably for the House of Alexander, on the other, the crest of Hellsing.  Inside the ring, she saw the words "Pacificatio inter se onis." (Latin: Peace between us _*note: that is a very rough interpretation of what I think the combination of those words mean.  The very literal translates into Make peace to each other mutually combined into one.  And I am pretty sure the grammar is completely wrong._)

"Presumptuous indeed."  Hellsing muttered under her breath as she slipped off her glove to place the ring on her finger.  It fit perfectly.

*-*

 "Down, down, we have another battalion down.  Confirm support to position."  The commander barked into his headset.

"Negatory, we have movement closing in on your position, we are calling in for air support Delta team."

"Flank is broken, more FREAKS at 12:00."

"Bravo 88th battalion, fall back, repeat, fall back.  Charlie company 55th battalion, royal force move in for covering support."

"Medical back up has arrive."

"Medics, save or destroy."

"Milord, we cannot hold these positions.  There is too much activity from the FREAKS."  Walter said to the haggard looking Hellsing.  It had been 5 weeks since the first skirmish had started the battle.  It had been unnerving to many of the battalions to find dark shadows appearing in their midst and attacking alongside with them.

"There is another group from the House of Alexander moving in for support.  We have to hold the line.  So far, we have kept them contained."  Hellsing replied firmly, her blue eyes sunken into the exhaustion that etched her face.

"Milord, it has been 5 weeks of furious fighting and we have not yet seen Herod and his forces.  You have barely slept, our troops are fatigued."

"Herod watches us."  Hellsing answered, closing her eyes briefly.  She knew that Herod had thrown the FREAKS and his minions forward for the last 48 hours.  He was making sure they were exhausted before he struck, likely at full power.

Hellsing had only seen Camilla once or twice in the clamor and din of the battles taking place across the field and abandoned buildings.  She could have been there more, so many of the true vampires were using their controls and creature forms that she could barely keep track of those that were allies and those they were attacking.

Seras and Arucard were knee deep in battle as well.  If she knew the vampire, Arucard was relishing every kill he made.

Camilla ripped open the throat of one of Herod's vampire and drank deeply.  She had spent the past year perfecting her numerous skills and tracking how much energy each action took.  She would not be caught unaware again by the power Herod wielded.

Swirling clouds of shadow and blood gathered around her, prehensile shadows and whipping strands of blood grabbed anything that dared to venture too close and opened them wide.  She ripped off the head and threw the body away.  Her eyes blazed blood red and she was more creature than human.

"Control 1-4-C, Bleeding Vengeance."  She snarled as her form spread across another group of FREAKS and Herod's minion's.  The sky crackled with lightning as the bodies caught in the shadow of her form began to pour blood from their eyes, noses and mouths.  A huge blood dragon began to take shape and it moved towards the next group of FREAKS and vampires.

"Control combination 2-6-B.  Angel's Fury."  She shifted her form again and the blood dragon was illuminated with a fierce blue light that it breathed out towards attacking figures, incinerating them in a single pass.

Arucard could sense her powers as she exercised one after another control.  The field was littered with piles upon piles of FREAKS, vampires and Hellsing troops.  The flat field now had rows and gullies of bodies as they fell.  Still, he had not seen Herod appear on the battlefield and that worried him.  

Camilla was fury manifested; she devoured those that could feed her before destroying them completely.  Arucard himself had drunk from more than one dying creature.  He had instructed Seras to do the same but didn't know if she had.  She was spending most of her time near her battalion.

This was like the epic battles of old that they used to wage, despite everything, Arucard thrilled at the carnage he could wreak.

The hordes of FREAKS and Herod's vampires began to retreat.  Arucard glanced at the sky daybreak was coming.  The hellhounds continued their galloping rampage and met the vampiric forces head on.

It was going to be another long day.

Hellsing saw a vampiric creature form that was truly frightening in the midst of the battle.  She recognized Arucard occasionally in his creature form, and she knew how many controls she had released for him. 

Whatever was laying waste out there though, was not him.  Power crackled in the air around this creature as dark shadows, hellish, demons; hell beasts from spirals of blood and darkness like a maelstrom of violence.

The ground rippled as controls that Hellsing had never even imagined flew from this creature.  The day was breaking and the battlefield was clearing as only the hellhounds were left behind to hold the invisible line of Herod's territory.

Hellsing watched in astonishment as the chaos and fury of the creature slowly transformed into Camilla.  Not the Camilla that had left her, this Camilla was a feral creature.  

"Binoculars."  Hellsing barked and then held them to her eyes.

Camilla came into sharp focus, her white shirt was drenched in blood so dark and thick, it looked black.  Her dark hair had come undone from the ponytail and flew behind her like a dark banner.  It was her face that Hellsing focused on.  Her eyes were blazing red and her fangs were pronounced.  She was frighteningly intense and coldly beautiful as she gazed around her.  Suddenly, she turned and looked directly at Hellsing.  Hellsing watched as the fierce features softened slightly and then she turned away and disappeared into a shadow form that slithered across the battlefield.

Hellsing lowered the binoculars.  There was no mistaking now that Camilla was a vampire.  A creature of the dead.  Still, the image of her burned into Hellsing's mind.  She looked like some demon princess come to prowl the earth, and even as bloodied and ferocious as she appeared, Hellsing saw in those flaming red eyes the gentleness she knew when they looked in her direction.

"Lord Hellsing, come, rest now.  The day will not last long enough."  Walter came forward and put his arms gently around Hellsing's shoulders.

"She is probably the most powerful vampire we have ever seen.  And she fights beside us.  How is that possible Walter? How did I let the Hellsing organization come to this?"  Hellsing asked, shrugging off Walter's gentle guidance.

She didn't wait for him to answer.

"Get the commanders that can make it to the base transport there, link the others on the com for the briefing of the day."  Hellsing said as she moved towards the transport that had been set up into a makeshift base station.

Walter shook his head as he picked up the headset she had tossed off and relayed her instructions.

Camilla slumped against the cool stone.

"M'liege.  You need to rest; I have bought you additional rations.  We are delivering as many as we can across the field."  

Camilla looked up and smiled tiredly at her companion.  Marcus.  He had traveled with her through so many centuries.  She enjoyed his quiet company.  He had been the first to welcome her back after Laurian's death.  She took the bags of medical blood from him and began to drink.

"Why did you betray me Marcus?"  She asked after the second bag.

"My liege?"  Marcus replied, startled by her question.

"You are not alone in this, I know.  I wanted to know, before this evening, when I suspect Herod will show.  He has watched as I battled, as have you all, so that you may know the extent of my powers and know that I will be, despite the nourishment, weakened."

Marcus bowed his head.

"I would not subject you to needless sentimentality, I only ask because, as the betrayed, I want to know how I failed to lead the House of Alexander."  Camilla finished another bag, watching Marcus intently.

"My liege.  You never wanted the mantle that was given to you by Alexander.  It was his perverse joke against all his peers that he named you his successor.  Despite that, you led the house well in his name."  Marcus answered quietly.

"So I am betrayed after 400 years because you were angry that Alexander chose me as his successor?"  Camilla sighed.

"I would have rather died 1,000 years ago, as Camilla, daughter of Nikolas and Ariana, in a land that no longer remembers the name of my tribe or the travels we made every year.  I certainly never expected that I would be here to witness all that I have.  In the end, I am betrayed by a plot that if we were human would amount to nothing more than jealousy over daddy's favorite."

Marcus did not answer.

"Am I betrayed by the entire council?"  She finally asked.

"No, my liege, and you are not truly betrayed by those of us who conspired with Herod.  There are few of us.  I have served you with pleasure my liege.  However, for all your talents and wisdom, you were not meant to lead any house."

"Marcus, you know that by the old laws, the ones that you cling to judge that I am unfit to lead any house of any vampire, I am to put you to death."  Camilla felt the weight of the last two days and the past year since her awakening settle on her shoulders like a lead cloak.  Betrayed by those within her own house.

"Yes my liege."  Marcus replied, this time raising his head to stare her directly in the eye.

"You don't think I will, do you?"  Camilla sighed again.  In her mind putting together the pieces that she had toyed with for the last year.  The names of her betrayers fell into place.

_"Arucard.  Marcus, Theolus and Altena are my betrayers."  Camilla sent the message to Arucard._

Marcus just continued to stare directly into her dark gaze.

In a flash, Camilla was up and behind Marcus, a blessed dagger pressed against his throat, shadows unraveling from beneath her cloak to pin him to her.

"That is something that none of you ever understood.  You mistake my compassion for weakness.  I was first and foremost a human from a time when humans were brutal and ruthless.  If there is one thing that remains, that is my will to survive.  The predators never recognize when there is something stronger out there hunting them."  Camilla whispered into Marcus's ear as she slit his throat.

She sliced his head far enough to drink from the dark liquid pouring from the gaping wound.  She drank until she had drained his corpse and then finished removing his head.  Within moments, only dust swirled at her feet.

Arucard entered the room, followed by the council who herded Theolus and Altena towards her.

Camilla turned to face them.

"You know why you are here.  In the midst of this battle, when the House of Alexander should be at its' strongest, I discover that there are those in this house that are hacking away at the foundation.  I just explained to Marcus that by the very laws that you proclaim to be upholding by questioning my succession to the head of this house that I should put you to death.  He chose to allow his contempt for what he believed me to be to challenge me.  Do you wish to challenge me?"  Camilla spoke softly.

Arucard felt that tremor along his spine, this was the Camilla that he so rarely saw but that invoked the same feeling to everyone in the room.  Fear.  He wondered if this side of Camilla is what Alexander sought when he made her his successor.  Despite her calm demeanor and preference for a non-violent solution when she could, he knew that at the end of the day, she was as brutal and vicious as any of those who claimed the name vampire. 

"My liege, if you killed Marcus, then you know that we did not act to ally with Herod, merely to raise the question."  Theolus replied, raising his gaze to meet Camilla's.

"You know, I always encourage the questioning of my policies.  I welcome a lively discussion on my decisions and relish the opportunity to try and convince you.  I thought I had answered all the questions when the time of succession came, met the challenges.  Yet, you chose to wait until this moment, the first real battle invoked against this house in centuries to raise the question of my worth to lead the house?  So let me say this another way, the price you pay, based on the laws of this house, is that if you believe yourself to be fit to challenge me, then I will collect your head."  Camilla did not raise her voice as she spoke.

"My liege…It is not your practice to hold to the laws, which is one of the reasons…" Theolus began to answer but could not finish as Camilla once again, faster than even those who could move across rooms at the speed of thought, drew her dagger across Theolus's throat and began to feed again.  Again, when she finished, she finished the decapitation and turned to face her last betrayer as the dust that was Theolus blew across the floor.

"My liege.  Mercy, please."  Altena dropped to her knees before Camilla and lowered her head.

"Was it not my mercy that led you to believe I was weak?  Now you ask to invoke it?"  Camilla asked, still speaking in that quietly commanding voice.  

The rest of the council bore silent witness.  Those that watched, like Arucard, knew that this ruthless creature was Camilla, true heir of the house of Alexander.  One only need to witness her in action once to realize that beneath her veneer of genteel compassion was a beast that she tried to contain.

Altena kept her head bowed.

"No, my liege.  Yours is the will of the House of Alexander, should you decree my death, then I accept it by your hand."  She murmured.

Camilla knelt down and lifted Altena's face so that she could look into her violet colored eyes.

"My beautiful Altena, you are so cunning.  Yours is a will to survive almost as strong as my own.  Why should I grant you mercy?"  She whispered to fill the small space between them.

"My liege and lord Camilla.  Forgive me my foolishness in questioning your will.  If mercy is not yours to give, then death is your privilege.  If mercy is yours to give, then I swear, on this house and by our sire Alexander, that you will never find another who will follow you as devoutly as I."  Altena replied, lowering her eyes even as her face was still held by Camilla's hand.

"Then tell me what you know of Herod's plans, surely, if you were sharing news of our plans, then he must have shared some with you?  In order to confirm your allegiance to me, you will deliver a new message to Herod.  You will instruct him as I direct.  Should you be lying to save your skin right now, Herod will likely destroy you if you tell him I have discovered you and try to confess that you are misleading him.  If you survive and make it back, then, should we both survive to the end…We will talk again."  Camilla rose and moved back towards the center of the room.

The other members of the council moved to allow her passage.

"Have her removed while we discuss the shift in plans to prepare for this evening.  Altena, we will talk before the day ends.  Keep her under close watch and no blood for her this day."  Camilla said as she grabbed another bag of medical blood for herself.

Arucard watched silently as they took Altena away.  Camilla was drinking so much, but then, as he had witnessed, she was using so much of her powers.

*-*

Hellsing opened her eyes.  It had only been a few hours since she had closed them.  She could feel the fatigue spread through her bones.  She swung her feet over the side of the thin cot.  Her coat and weapons hung off the metal hooks attached to the transport wall.

She walked over to the small washbasin and mirror.  She gazed at the tired figure gazing back at her.  She splashed water on her face and prepared to freshen up as best she could.  The air on the battlefield was so thick with the scent of blood and death that her own smell would hardly matter.

Walter looked up as Lord Hellsing exited the transport she had taken a brief nap in.  Despite the exhaustion etched on her face, she was dressed still in the full Hellsing regalia looking only slightly disheveled.

"Tea?"  He asked, already pouring her a cup.

Hellsing nodded as she sat down.  Walter had prepared a light meal of cold chicken and vegetables to accompany the tea.

"The troops…" She started.

"Are being fed and restocked on ammunition as we speak.  We have also given them the enhancers in their packs.  I recommend you take one after your meal."  Walter answered as he sat across from her.

"Have we heard from Arucard or Seras?"  

"Arucard returned briefly while you slept.  He asked me to let you know that there has been a shift in their plans.  He expects Herod will appear tonight.  The request is that we pull our troops as far back along the periphery as we can.  Seras has remained with her battalion since the battle became engaged."

"We will not pull back."  Hellsing retorted, "I am not here to provide mop up detail."

"As you command."  Walter replied calmly.

Camilla rose from her slumber in one easy movement.  There was no one in the chamber she had slept in.  The brief respite had been enough to replenish her strength but she could not withstand many more days like this.

She grabbed a bag of blood and began drinking.  She moved through the chamber, her battle outfit was cleaned and hanging off to the side.  She fingered the white shirt, it must be new, since she was sure no amount of cleaning would clean the other.

She sat down on the stone ledge that ran the perimeter of the chamber.  Weeks of fighting and then Marcus and Theolus, all for what?  Politics and ancient grudges that never wore away in the mix of time.  She sometimes believed that humans could embrace forgiveness much more easily since they are the ones that had a finite life to live.  Her breed however, they could polish and nurture even the mildest offense into a sharp and deadly vendetta.  She sighed as she finished the bag.

She had not lied, some days she truly had wished that her bones had long since become part of the earth and all this had never come to be.

_"Come in brother."  _She called out, sensing Arucard's presence moving down the corridor that led to her chamber.

_"You are awake already?  You did not rest for very long."  _Arucard replied as he appeared in the room.

_"There is still too much to do.  How fares Altena?"  _Camilla asked, holding up a bag of blood to Arucard.

_"She has told us much that we already know.  The only thing she had that we did not was the cluster of mages that Herod had contracted.  She knows not for what purpose.  That worries me.  To bring in mages can not bode well for us."  _Arucard shook his head at the proffered blood.

He could sense that Camilla was tired, beyond the battle.  He had no idea how it was that she managed to continue leading the House.  He suspected that more than once she would gladly have walked away if she thought that she could truly just move through the world unchallenged.  

_"One does not lead one of the oldest and strongest houses without cultivating many with a need for vengeance and my blood as retribution.  The enemy I know is better than any other."  _Camilla answered the unspoken question.

_"Why did you accept the mantle?"  _Arucard asked, something he had never bothered to ask, even the night of her ascension ceremony.__

Camilla smiled at him, that warm smile that she shared so rarely, the one that, when you were the recipient, there was nothing else in the world except the intimacy of that smile.

"When Alexander was ready to move on, tired of this physical life, he called me into his study."  Camilla began, speaking out loud.

"It was simple enough.  If I did not take on, as per his wish, the leading of his house, he would kill me.  Before he did that, he promised he would personally destroy any and all that I may have cared even slightly for.  I did not lie when I said my instinct for self-preservation has been one of the driving forces in my existence.  Alexander, as you remember, was many things, but above all, he was a true monster.  He had no true belief in family or even traditions.  He was born from a time that we could never know, more creature than human.  Despite how well he cleaned up, he was a beast at heart.  The betrayers did not lie, he named me for one reason, and that was to exact a perverse sense of who knows what against the other vampires."  Camilla paused as she looked over at Arucard.

"I know you have heard the rumors about me.  I also know, in your own loyal way, you never chose to participate in the speculation.  The rumors are only guessing.  I am truly a half-breed.  They call us Dhamir but I am not even that.  I am vampire and human, conceived, created, crafted by the magicks of my people and Alexander's own dark meddling, I was manifested between the three of them.  My mother, my father and Alexander, each of their blood runs through my veins.  It was this great experiment of Alexander's that made him believe that he was now superior to any other of his kind.  For none of them had produced an offspring such as he.  There were half-breeds, woman attacked before giving birth and turning completely, other 'accidents' such as they are.  Alexander loved that he had willfully determined and created a progeny.  Never mind that I hated him, hated what he made me into, hate this darkness that is whatever we call a soul.  He cared not for the time, so inconsequential to him, that I spent as a human broken in the great hall of his house.  Never mind that he killed me not once, but three times and forced his blood down my throat when I continued to refuse his story of who I was.  

"Then allowed me loose in the world to see if I could survive.  I was hunted, beaten, attacked, forced to kneel before the master of many a house.  Forced to serve them as well, never underestimate the depravity of the elders of our breed.  Alexander was the one who announced what I was to all of our breed.  I was sport for them since I was an outcast, not a true vampire.  He offered no benediction to me in those first decades.  It was in those decades, when I was either chained and beaten like an animal, or tortured and subjugated beneath their well-polished heels, that I learned compassion."  She gave a small laugh.

"Ironic, isn't it?  In those decades I realized the very last thing I wanted to be was one of them.  For all of humanity's faults and weaknesses, of which there are many, this species never stopped hoping.  Believing in some higher meaning to their existence.  So, when I returned to Alexander, when he finally decreed I was under the protection of his house, I was not the same child I had been when I left.  He believed me to be just like him now, a beast disguised beneath this civilized veneer.  Instead, I was a civilized being trying to impersonate a beast."

"You deny the beast within you to yourself?"  Arucard asked, he had never understood the relationship between Camilla and Alexander.  The two of them in a room together had made whatever room it was seem incredibly small.  Alexander had been a decent sire, so far as Arucard could determine.  His turning and subsequent training had not been as horrific as the details Camilla described.  Of course, he would not deny that his kind had a very sadistic streak with many of their new progeny.  Perhaps he was so far down in the chain of progeny that by the time he had been turned, Alexander did it more as an obligation to his house than for real sport.

"There is no denying the beast within me, but I will not let it rule me.  If I die this evening, I know it will be as my creature self and not as my human side.  I accepted that long ago.  However, I would like to think that my time spent on this earth, I have done more kindness than evil."  Camilla answered matter of factly.  It was true, despite her resolve, becoming the darkness was less than a thought to her, so easily could she become her vampiric form.

"I wanted you to know, so long I have denied you, of all my brethren, knowing the true story of me.  You have always been among my favorites of Alexander's children.  Long have I admired how truly you embrace the creature you were transformed into.  One last thing, I gave to your Lord Hellsing a ring, it bears the crest of Hellsing and the symbol of Alexander's house.  No matter what happens to me against Herod, the House of Alexander will abide by that token.  Now, on to tonight's plans.  Let's bring Altena up and summon the council."  Camilla rose from her position, slipping her linen sleeping robe off and stepping towards her clothes.

Arucard nodded his head and began to disappear from the chamber.  He saw again the truth of her tale written against her flesh.  Her back was lightly scarred from her shoulders down across the backs of her thighs.  He knew that her torso bore the same threading of scars.

*-*

"Why does she send you here?"  Herod asked the kneeling figure before him.

"I escaped to come here, I am now an exile from my own house Lord Herod.  She discovered our treachery and killed Marcus and Theolus.  I was to be next but managed to escape in the lull of this afternoon's recovery."  Altena murmured, keeping her eyes to the ground.

Herod raised one scarred eyebrow.  Like any expression that moved across his face, what came across was a grotesque mockery of the expected expression.

"Indeed, and you thought somehow I would give you sanctuary?"  Herod sneered down.

"Milord, I can help you, you have none as old as I among your ranks.  Tell me where to serve and I will serve.  Lord Camilla is planning on continuing her frontal attack, to move the line back again.  She will persist in this every night until she comes to this door."  Altena answered.  If given a choice between lying to Herod or having to face Camilla's wrath again, lying was the easier option.

Herod cocked his head.  It was true, all his sniveling progeny were not as old as Altena before him.

"You will accompany my pet project then, out to the battle field tonight."  Herod smiled and then waved his hand, to indicate her audience with him was over.

*-*

Camilla turned, flinging the attacking FREAKS from her.  She could sense Herod, he was near.  The night was only half gone, and what stretched before her could mark the minutes between her ultimate death.

Hellsing watched the fury and grace of Camilla move through the line that the hellhounds had held for two days.  A swarm of dark figures followed her into the breach.  Hellsing smiled a small smile; perhaps the fortune will turn in their favor this evening.

Hellsing felt the tension settle across her shoulders.  Her own clothes stiff with blood, the FREAKS had broken several perimeters and made it into the base camp.  They had been driven back when vampires appeared, not least of who was Arucard to destroy the attackers.

Camilla moved in a bloody swath nearing the cave where she knew Herod sat.

_"Come out you coward of a vampire.  Vermin that I crushed before and will crush again!"  _Camilla flung her thought towards the cave entrance.__

_"Gladly you bastard aberration."  _Herod responded, appearing right before the cave entrance.

"They've met.  Herod has shown himself."  Hellsing heard the crackling voice come over the comlink.

She raised binoculars to her eyes and saw the dark hooded figure appearing before Camilla.  Camilla, again in that disheveled battle fury.  Her hair loosed again, blood across her clothes, her cloak billowing with her hair behind her.  The flurry of shadows as each side lined up with one after another of vampires squaring off to face each other.  She saw Arucard at Camilla's side.  Hellsing narrowed her blue eyes; she would do well to learn more about the intricacies of the vampire culture.  She had always known Arucard to be powerful, but how he ranked, aside from how he ranked himself, in that standing now intrigued her.  There was no doubt of Camilla's place in that hierarchy.

Hellsing watched as the line of vampires stood facing each other.  There didn't appear to be any movement.

"Seras!" She barked into her headset.

"Sir, yes sir! Seras on line."  Seras replied.

"What is happening?"  Hellsing asked.

"They are battling Lord Hellsing.  Look at the FREAKS and hellhounds, they are being destroyed by the residual force."  Seras replied.  She could hardly believe what she was seeing; she knew it was from Camilla's blood and Arucard's recent training of her that she was even attuned to this fighting taking place.  It hardly seemed fair, the power that rippled from the House of Alexander almost lit the sky so fierce was that power.  So many elders, standing side by side.  Herod, and a select few others appeared to be emanating most of the power.  Younger vampires were falling from the on-slaught.

Seras had been angry at first, when Arucard told her of his wishes that she stay with the Hellsing battalion she often supported.  It was only when Camilla had come to her later, holding her hands within her own and gazing at her with those dark eyes.  

"Victoria Seras, you are now sired by the House of Alexander, progeny of Arucard, and it is because I fear the outcome of this battle may not bode well for me that I ask that you follow your Master's wishes.  We need you with the house of Hellsing in this battle.  There is too much at stake to have you sacrificed in this mess.  Your time will come, of that I am absolutely sure."

So, now Seras stood, watching the battle between the two ancient forces, with her battalion, translating what she saw for the Lord of the Hellsing organization.

Helsing moved her binoculars along the line, it was true, the FREAKS were backing away and still appeared to be imploding from within.  

Camilla raged against Herod, feeling the fury she felt the day she had set out to destroy him the first time.  Laurian's fading green eyes still burned in her memory.

Herod fell to one knee.  The she-bitch had not lied; she was not the whelp that had come after him the first time.  Even after watching her for these past weeks, Herod suspected that she had barely tapped into her reservoir of power.

_"How dare you threaten the house of Alexander? How dare you turn those dearest to my heart to your feeble cause?  How DARE you threaten to touch those in my protection."  _Camilla shouted as she landed blow after psychic below upon Herod.

_"How dare I?!"  _Herod forced himself to stand and defended himself against the reign of blows she was unleashing._  "HOW DARE I!!"  _He bellowed and unleashed a control that hit Camilla squarely in the chest.

Camilla grimaced but did not bow.  Along either side of them, the vampires were beginning to spread out; the battle was about to turn into full assault of every power they possessed amongst them_._

Hellsing flinched when she saw Camilla move back as if struck.  She watched as within seconds, the form of Camilla was gone and replaced with the creature of blood and shadows from earlier.

_"Altena!"  _Herod shouted back into the cave.__

Camilla moved forward, lashing and striking at Herod who was doing all he could to defend himself.  For all the powers she was unleashing, she could not get a direct blow in.

Arucard fired one control after another, trying to make sure Camilla did not get to far ahead of their line, but it was no use, she was attacking, moving in, attacking, moving in.  Arucard had the sense that Herod was baiting her forward.

_"Camilla…You are venturing to far ahead.  Slow your pace."  _Arucard called out, dodging the attacks from the line of vampires that fired low-level controls against him.

Camilla did not respond as she moved forward again.  A maelstrom of darkness and crimson was unleashed towards Herod's form, when he disappeared into shadows and moved away.

The attack flew towards the figure standing where Herod had been.  

_"You would kill me with you own hands this time?"  _The voice rang through Camilla's head.

The attacking chaos swerved and took out half a dozen of Herod's young vampires.

Hellsing, Arucard and Seras all watched as in less than a heartbeat, Camilla's human form reappeared.  It was then that each of them realized that she truly was alone in the midst of Herod's line.

Camilla stood, all fury drained from her.

"Laurian?"  She whispered at the figure before her.

Altena watched from behind Laurian's figure.  Something about the look in Camilla's eyes pained her.

"My dear sweet Camilla."  Camilla watched as the figure before her began to move towards her.

Herod appeared behind Camilla and wretched her arms behind her.  Arucard unleashed several potent controls towards the large vampire.  They bounced away before hitting him.

"Magicks…" He muttered.  

Camilla felt the burning of blessed chains wrapping around her swiftly, but could not break her eyes away from the figure before her.

"Laurian."  She whispered again, this time sounding like a lost child.

"Shush my sweet Camilla."  Laurian answered, moving forward and brushing her hand lightly across Camilla's cheek.

"Now, as I promised you."  Herod whispered in Camilla's ear before striking her viciously across the back of the head.  

Hellsing watched, astonished as Camilla was bound and then beaten by Herod in the cave entrance.  Who was the woman that had appeared and caused Camilla to stop in her tracks?  Camilla was eventually beaten down to her knees or else she collapsed to her knees.  Hellsing focused the binoculars there was such pain on Camilla's face.  She was weeping…

"God in heaven…Laurian?"  Hellsing whispered, moving the binoculars back up to the woman who stood, watching impassively at the figure crumpled at her feet while Herod continued to kick the prone figure.

Arucard screamed as he released one after another of his powers at the line of vampires now closing ranks.

Seras began firing her shoulder cannon repeatedly.  "No, no, no…" She kept whispering to herself as the shells landed one after the other and blowing up groups of vampires.

The last thing any of them saw was Herod dragging Camilla by her hair into the cave.  A new swarm of vampires, FREAKS and hellhounds poured out from the face of the mountain.

Hellsing lowered the binoculars slowly.

"He planned this all along.  He deliberately baited her until she was alone…Now, he has her."  Hellsing whispered, unaware that tears were streaming down her face.

Walter moved towards Hellsing.  

"Come, Lord Hellsing."  He murmured as he guided her back towards the transport she had been staying in.

"I cannot.  We have to bring in reinforcements.  They will be destroyed out there if we do not assist."  Hellsing answered, her tone all business.  Walter lowered his eyes from the pain he saw radiating in her blue eyes.  He knew she was, above all else, Lord Integra Wingates Hellsing, and this was what she had been bred to do.

"Attack plan B-4 initiated.  Call in the air support and secondary battalions.  We are making sure that line gets out of there."  Hellsing barked into the com link.

The commanders responded one by one on the com link and she watched as they moved forward, firing, destroying Herod's swarm of hell, breaking it up enough to allow those who had stood with Camilla a chance to break away.

By the time day broke again, the breadth of bodies and the stench of death in the air was so strong the horizon was dark with smoldering bodies and the ground wet with blood.  

Arucard fought the urge to chase the retreating FREAKS and vampires as they scampered away from the rising sun.

He saw a figure staggering towards him.  He waited, patiently.  The young vampire collapsed before him.

_"From Lady Altena…" _He said before he collapsed.__

Arucard sneered as he ripped the young vampires head off.  One of Herod's whelps, he bent down and grabbed the small card the vampire clutched.

Hellsing sat in the transport, finally alone.  Walter had insisted that she remove her battle regalia for cleaning before the next evening of battle.

The evening had finished with less casualties than the previous two weeks.  It was almost as if now that Herod had what he wanted; the attacks were there for show only.

There was a knock at the transport door.  

Hellsing wasn't sure she wanted to see anyone.  Instead, she pulled her robe closer to her form and opened the door.

Seras stood outside, dirty and bloodied and staring up at her with eyes that flamed a deep red.

"Lord Hellsing…Forgive me…I…" Seras started to speak.

Hellsing only nodded and turned away, heading back into the transport.

Arucard found them both, sitting in Hellsing's transport some hours later.  They were not speaking when he arrived, he wasn't sure if they had spoken at all.  They sat, across from each other, looking across to one another.

"Do you want what news we have?"  He asked as he materialized in the small space.

"I presume that was Laurian…Or some form of her."  Hellsing replied without looking at him.

Arucard flashed his mad grin.  "Indeed.  We had underestimated the amount of magicks that Herod had sought.  He has two very powerful mage houses working with him.  We do not know what he possibly promised them to elicit their support, as it is always in their interest that they provide any manner of assistance."

"Her, I imagine."  Hellsing said softly.

Arucard had no response.  He had not thought that Herod would offer up…But of course, why wouldn't the mages want her and her blood?  His red eyes narrowed…He did not want to think about what they would do to Camilla.

He shared no other information, as the Council was undecided on Altena's act of information.  Camilla could have at least one ally, or another in line to exact their vengeance.

*-*

Camilla screamed again, the pain crawling along her flesh searing her from the inside out.  How had they bound her?  Mere blessed chains did not easily bind her, yet she could not move.  Hanging suspended from the ceiling.  Where was she?  The pain again…Hooded figures, chanting.  Magickal torture?  Not that.  Anything but that.  Camilla whimpered, she had been captured only once by a mages guild in her early years but if there was one thing that still sometimes woke her in a terror; it was when those memories surfaced.

The gnawing insects crawled beneath her flesh, she watched in horror as her skin bubbled and blistered and she could see the shiny black bugs burrowing into her flesh.  Heading for her bones.

Herod watched Camilla, stripped and hanging, twitching and screaming.  The look of terror on her face made him smile.  He had no idea what the mages were chanting but it was well worth it.  Her body was covered in runes and symbols; her flesh was charred where magick brands had been applied.  Laurian had told him of this fear of Camilla's.  Not knowing the end result would be this.  

As a doppelganger, she had the memories of her original but no essence of true life.  No feelings or loyalties.  Just a shell that spoke like moved like and looked like the original.  Herod merely had to ask, to instruct and the Laurian creature would do as he asked.  It had cost him dearly; he had collected her clothes, trophies like so many of his kills in those days.  How happy had he been once he had survived Camilla's attack?  The equivalent of magical cloning, all they needed was the slightest remain of Laurian, and the dust embedded in the clothes had been enough to bring her back exactly as she had been the day he killed her, without all her troublesome powers and interference of course.  If he had only known then what he knew now, he would have killed Camilla that day.  No matter, he smiled, as he listened to Camilla's screams pierce through the room.


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer information: All characters belong to their proper copyrighted owners.  The others are my creation.  See previous notes about Camilla.  Please use your own discretion in reading, as the content of the story will lead towards 'Yuri" and possibly lemon (I do not know the criteria of these definitions) which accounts for the R rating as there will be, in the upcoming chapters some violence and other adult themes.  I have not read the Manga and the assumptions regarding Arucard and his 'age' were based upon a now defunct fan site called "Intensity-Integral Shrine".  The name Altena is a nod to my other favorite anime, Noir, but is not actually based upon that character.  If you have not seen the following website Solid & Etc you should get there as soon as you can.  It is some of the most astonishing Hellsing inspired art I have ever seen.  Reviews and feedback are welcome.  **** **Chapter 7**

The evening so like the others filled with the never ending battle approached again; the three figures stood, watching the field.  There was no movement coming from the cave and the hellhounds merely stood as they have stood throughout the day.

Hellsing began to stride forward.  

"Don't."  Arucard warns, shifting in front of her.

"He is gone.  He has what he came for, these are for show.  Battalions, attack at will, confirm FREAK activity along the perimeter."  Hellsing replied, then spoke into her headset.

"Confirmation.  No FREAKS found in sector A-1."

"Confirmed, No activity in sector A-2."

Hellsing glared at Arucard grimly as one after another, the battalions reported back that the areas were clear.  Nary a trace of vampire or FREAK to be seen.  Shots rang out as the battalions moved forward, firing at the stray Hellhounds left behind.

Arucard cocked his head.  The vampires of the house of Alexander confirmed what Hellsing's angry gaze told him.  Herod was gone, disappeared in the daylight, taking Camilla with him.

Seras didn't look at either of them.  She merely hefted her shoulder cannon over her shoulder and began firing at the line of hellhounds.

None of them had slept that day, in the silence between them, each of them dealing with Camilla's loss in their own way.  Arucard disappeared and reappeared frequently, dealing with the Council as more news came in.

By the time the sun had completely set and the night was dark, the forces of Hellsing and Alexander stood in the cave entrance.

Hellsing felt a pain in her chest as she remembered the sight of Camilla, bound and beaten in this very spot.  It wasn't that memory so much as the pain she had seen on Camilla's face that tore her inside.

Hellsing waited as Arucard, Seras and the point battalion moved in to confirm the cave was clear.  Hellsing had no doubt in her mind that they would find no trace of Herod, Camilla or anything else.

Arucard reappeared, his usual mad grin more chaotic than usual.  He was holding a pile of clothes and a bloody cloak.

"Master…"Sera asked when she saw him.

"They are hers."  He answered as he tossed them to one of the council members.

Hellsing did not look at the bundle that the vampire was moving away with.  She walked into the cave and looked around.  It was larger than it looked from the outside.  Various tunnels burrowed into the mountain.  She suspected that many of them led to various points outside, which would explain Herod's ability to unleash his swarms whenever he needed.

"One of these must lead somewhere outside the perimeter we secured.  Commander Young, send a recon out and explore the tunnels.  I want this entire cave mapped, and I want to know how Herod escaped.  Call in fresh units if you need to."  Hellsing turned towards the commander nearest to her.

"Travel with a vampire in each group.  They may be able to sense things you cannot see."  Arucard said, nodding towards a group of vampires also in the cave.

Hellsing turned to face Arucard.

"Lord Hellsing.  The truce that Camilla offered remains in effect until we can confirm whether she lives or not.  Lord Arucard merely speaks on behalf of the council."  An older male vampire dressed in a deep maroon cloak and finery from an age gone by murmured as he nodded his assent towards Arucard.

Hellsing grunted her reply and began moving deeper into the cave.

*-*

_"Camilla."_

Camilla opened her eyes.  She ached from so deep within that even bothering to surface into consciousness hardly seemed worth the effort.  Except, it was Laurian who called her.  Laurian…Whose blue eyes she had dreamt of deep in her blackness.  No, Laurian did not have blue eyes.  Green, her eyes were green.  Camilla struggled to raise her head.  She was on some dirty floor, dressed in some linen rag, she was bound but not by chains.  She stared dully at the intricate shimmering thread that wove around her wrist and up her arms.  The same intricate designs wound around her ankles and up her legs.  She could not stand but felt little inclination to try.  She felt the weight of some kind of collar around her neck.  Strange, that all her bindings but that one would be magickal.

_"Laurian?"  _She asked, tentatively.Camilla was having a hard time tracking the thread of time.  She dreamt of a blue-eyed Laurian and Laurian was here.  She felt as if she had not lived over 1,000 years.  How could she be back where she started?  Trapped by mages, subject to their experiments, endless experiments, bound and trapped.  It was Alexander and his damned lessons.  No, Alexander was gone, she…Camilla struggled to find the memory that would tell her where she was and why Laurian was here.__

_"I am here my love.  I came to see how you were feeling."  _Laurian answered.__

Camilla heard Laurian's reply but could sense nothing beneath it.  This was the most disconcerting part of Laurian's presence.  She could talk to her, she could feel her touch on those rare occasions when Laurian reached to her, she could look into those green eyes that she had lost herself in so many days and nights, there was something missing now in that gaze.

Laurian, so different in her cruel coldness, standing before her, so aloof, asking why Camilla had let her die, the accusation as sharp as a blade.  Asking her why she had done so much harm in the world.  Camilla could not remember this side of Laurian; she knew it existed, for she was Laurian of the House of Duchemont…Never with her though.  Laurian would leave Camilla crying after she left, walking out of her cell with not even a backward glance.  Leading her to the mages, carrying her back like a limp rag doll to leave her in this room with little concern for Camilla.

Camilla startled as Laurian's gentle touch.  She was cleaning her gently.  Camilla shivered; having others clean her always bought back the memories of Alexander's long vigil to break her.  That single action was the thing that always made her feel helpless, powerless.

Camilla looked up and saw green eyes gazing at her with mock concern.  Then why was she dreaming of such intently cold blue eyes, blue as the sky, deep as the ocean, blue.

_"So much pain my love.  Why is there so much pain?"  _Laurian asked gently as she ran the damp cloth over Camilla's prone form.  There was silence for a stretch of moments as she gently washed her.

_"For the sins we bear."  _Camilla finally answered despite herself.The feeling of despair welling up in her chest as she struggled to keep her eyes away from Laurian's face, to not look into those eyes and not see anything there.  Of all the things Herod had done to her, the pain of the mages and their endless quest to discover whatever it was they sought, in the space of however long she had been his prisoner, Laurian's distant presence ripped open the wound across her heart anew every day.__

_"Let me help you then my love."  _Laurian whispered as she moved closer to Camilla, her lips brushing the flesh she had just cleaned.

Camilla closed her eyes, no, not this.  Please, not this.  Everything the creature that was Laurian and not Laurian knew she also knew how to run her fingers over Camilla's tortured body with the gentlest of flutters.  Camilla felt the despair bloom even deeper in her chest.

Altena waited outside the room.  She had indeed accompanied Laurian everywhere she went, and the first time she saw Laurian's cruelness and the effect on Camilla, she began to demurely excuse herself to wait elsewhere.  The doppelganger did not care; Herod directed all her actions.

*-*

 "You leave the doppelganger unattended far to often with the half breed.  We have never tried to resurrect one of your breed.  There could be unforeseen complications."  The old mage spoke to Herod from beneath his dark hood.

"That is not your concern to worry about.  Have I not let you have the access you asked for?  Have I not permitted you every opportunity to gain the information you need from her?  How many times can you cut her open and perform your exploratory rituals?"  Herod answered impatiently.  In the beginning, he enjoyed watching the mages perform their experiments.  The sound of Camilla's pain was like a salve on the burning hatred he felt for the woman.  He enjoyed watching her sorrow when Laurian toyed with her, asking her the questions he fed to her.  Taunting her with his attentions to the doppelganger, who did all that he asked.  The first time he had thought of it, he had taken the doppelganger into Camilla's cell and there he had done so many things to the beautifully and amazingly obedient doppelganger.  He was breaking Camilla, little by little; the doppelganger had been more successful than he had anticipated.  Except, all that was waning, it hadn't been very long, and he had not been able to leave this magick-protected sanctuary since he bought the bastard half-breed here.  Even dragging her about by the collar had begun to prove wearisome.

The house of Alexander had invoked the rite of vengeance against him.  All houses allied with the House of Alexander were now looking for him.  Not that he was too terribly concerned, archaic old elders, tired and out of touch with the new world that existed out there.  Even allied with the humans and their pathetic group of vampire pets, including Arucard.  Herod relished the thought that Arucard, preening, arrogant whelp whom so often and so loudly proclaimed his prowess, favored by Camilla, bought low as well.  

The FREAKS had been a stroke of genius by the human insects that created them.  That combined with the magicks of the mages, he was building an army that when he walked the earth again, they would fall.  They would all fall, and he would carry a banner with the half-breed bitches head atop it.

"You underestimate what she is.  Even with all the time we have spent examining her, much of what she is is unknown to us.  The magick that created her has been lost from many of the mages guilds.  Nothing written, and her people were exterminated long ago in some crusade or another."  The mage replied in that soft tone inherent to his kind.

"She is a half breed abomination.  Her tribe has not been gone that long, she is not that old.  There are those among your guild I imagine are older.  A mere 10 centuries, my kind and yours have been on this earth since before man could speak in any manner besides guttural shouts."  Herod snarled.  He hated this talk of her, even when she was allowed to be hunted for sport, when she was nothing more than another fledgling turned creature, whispers in the great halls of her potential, her endurance, her ability to heal and survive, among those that were immortal.

The mage merely nodded and moved to leave the chamber.

"An ounce of caution is always worth more than a pound of vengeance."  Was his parting comment.

Herod smashed his fist into the stone column beside him, shattering it through the center.  He was going to exact his vengeance, he would break her when she saw all that she cared about destroyed.  Stupid sentimental creature, her anguish over the doppelganger proved that.

*-*-

Walter knocked on the door gently.

"Enter."  He heard Hellsing bark.

"Lord Hellsing, I thought perhaps some tea might be a welcome diversion."  He said as he entered the room.

Integra Hellsing looked up at him.  Walter noticed again how much older she looked, her blue eyes haunted by these past 9 months whenever she looked upon him.  In the beginning he tried to console her, to speak to her, but she never mentioned Camilla by name after the day in the cave.

Not to say that she had not devoted every moment and resource at her disposal to find information about where the female vampire could be.  Oddly enough, it was Seras who was able to calm her in the nights when she stalked through the mansion.  Hellsing would never allow anyone to see her openly rage, but on more nights than not, she prowled the mansion.  Hellsing Organization, always running around the clock before, now never stopped.  She ordered attacks one after the other.  When summoned to the Round Table, she would sit and listen, quietly seething, the administrative details that she excelled in now struck her as time wasted from finding the female vampire.  Even orders directly from the Queen, which she abided by, did not stop her relentlessness.

Seras did not speak to her; she would follow her around the mansion.  Arucard and she would arrive in the shadows and follow her.  Whether to protect her or just letting her know that they were there, none, not even Walter could say.

Arucard was gone as often as he had ever been.  What had been strange was Seras beginning to disappear with him, or on her own.  Walter suspected that the Council for the House of Alexander had a fair amount to do with that.

The vampires continued to assist the Hellsing organization.  It was a strange truce, to have ancient members of the vampire race enter into the Hellsing manor.  Sit at the tables with the commanders as they shared information.

"Thank you Walter."  Hellsing replied, staring intently at the computer screen.  This was new, this information on the mages guild.  A man had been killed in a car accident in Paris recently.  The autopsy had listed a burn across his hip.  Believed to be a result of the accident, Hellsing's contacts had noticed the strange pattern and discovered it to be a rune of a mage's guild.  Was he a mage or merely the victim, Hellsing didn't know.  Nor did she know if the mage's guild was one of the ones she sought.

Could she be in Paris?  So close, only a few hours away?  Hellsing turned away from the computer and faced Walter, who was holding out a cup of tea for her.

"It is possible there is a lead in Paris."  She said calmly as she accepted the tea.  So many leads in the past months, each of them coming to nothing.  She wasn't sure why she cared any longer, if she just stopped looking, she could go back to her life.  She glanced down at her hand, there, beneath the glove; she saw the outline of the ring.  The ring that allowed there to be a truce between the House of Alexander and the Hellsing Organization.  A truce that 2 years ago she would have scoffed at the mere mention of.  She rubbed the bridge of her nose with a distracted manner.

"Very good.  Shall I summon the commanders?"  Walter replied, pausing in his settling down across from her with his own cup of tea.

"Not yet.  I will send Seras over to the Council, their investigation may reveal more than my initial report." Hellsing answered, sipping her tea slowly.

"Have the archives proved useful in your research?"  Walter asked conversationally.  The Council had agreed to give Arucard access to records from their history to share with Hellsing.  She had compiled a significant source of notes on Herod, Laurian and some on even Camilla.  She made it a point to not read the passages with Arucard referenced.

"To a certain extent.  It is like trying to know the intrigue of Henry the VIIIs court by reading history books.  Surely, none could predict the actions within that court merely be reading about the players."  Hellsing answered, running her fingers through her long blond hair absently.

"A point well made.  Integra…" Walter paused, then noticed that she had turned her piercing blue eyes upon him.

"I have known you all your life.  I fought beside Arucard before you were born.  I heard tales from your father's lips of the legacy of the Hellsing name.  You bring no shame to the name for the feelings you have for the woman who leads the House of Alexander.  I am only saddened that your first risk into emotions of the heart led into the path of heartbreak before the joy."  Walter spoke softly.  He knew she would not respond but he had watched her struggle every day, trying to find a way through the shades of grey that she found herself in.

To his astonishment, silent tears began trailing down her sculpted cheekbones.

"How did this happen?"  She sobbed silently.

"The heart makes its' own decisions and rarely asks if the mind approves."  Walter answered, moving to comfort the quietly shaking lord of the manor.

"Even if I loved her the whole of my lifetime, it is not a fraction of the life she has lived.  What madness is this?  To speak of love for something I have made it my life to destroy.  And now, it would appear as though I may never know.  I could live and die in the time it takes for this war to play out.  It could be 6 months, 6 years, 60 years before Herod is found and she is rescued.  If she…" Hellsing gave voice to the doubts that had plagued her since that night in the cave.

Walter held her shoulders as she silently continued to cry.  He had no words to comfort her.  Love, Camilla had once said to him, is that which truly makes a soul sing.  Without it, we are all of us just marching towards our grave.

*.*.*

Arucard raced through the night.  He was personally heading to Paris to see if the lead Hellsing had sent proved to be worth any merit.  He had no memory of Herod, had he been turned with this whole drama started?  Or had he been too young to care?  Fresh with his new powers, stalking the night, reveling in his ability to melt into shadows.  Was it one of those things that Alexander and Camilla spent hours into the days and night fighting over and plotting?  

Camilla…Arucard had never understood how she could appear so close and always so distant.  Now, he understood.  To realize that there was none like you in the world, and even those you were aligned with held you in distrust.  Even still, she tried to balance both worlds that she came from.  How did she live with the contradiction within herself?  Now, he understood her waxing endlessly on the creatures that they were, and the struggles they faced.  Perhaps none but her had the conscience to actually care about the actions the beasts they were took in their survival.  He had noticed a change in Seras, and most telling, the change in Hellsing.  There was something even more guarded with her since Camilla's abduction.  Not that she would share very much with him anyway, but with even those that were closer to her.  Walter.  Strangely enough, it was Seras who spent time with the young leader of Hellsing.  When she wasn't learning the new world that had opened before her.  The Council, the meetings, the 'kin' that she never knew was out there.  It was the silent vigil she kept with Hellsing.

Arucard settled on a shelf of the Eiffel Tower.  There was another vampire that was to meet him.  He gazed out at the glittering lights.  Paris, city of lights, no matter how many lights, they could never truly dispel the shadows.

_"Greetings from the House of Iris."_  Arucard heard the greeting before he sensed the other's presence.

_"Greetings from the House of Alexander."_  Arucard answered, turning to face the presence that appeared beside him.

_"Pietro sends his regards and hopes this information is helpful in the location of Camilla."_  The other vampire said.

_"The House of Alexander will not forget the aid of the House of Iris in this time of darkness we face."_  Arucard replied the ritual reply.  

"It appears as though the Mages Guilds are beginning to withdraw from Paris.  The body of the car accident was the first that perhaps indicated other strange accidents should be considered.  It is our current inclination to believe that we have gathered enough details from the past 2 months from other deaths that we believe Herod is in Paris.  There are several locations he could be, and if it is true that since he disappeared with Lord Camilla that he has likely been in hiding in a magickal sanctuary, well.  It will take time to determine." 

_"You think that the Mages are moving because they are done or there is something else?"  _Arucard asked, he would have to have members of the council and Hellsing's own resources confirm the information.

_"Mages are a cautious lot, if they believe that a confrontation is brewing, then they will begin to move out of the area.  The apprentices have begun to relocate to other countries.  They are either following their adepts or preparing for the adepts arrival.  We will likely not know which the case is, as the adepts are much harder to track." _ The other answered.

_"Who do we think is sending the information on the dead?"_  Arucard asked.

_"We thought perhaps you might know the ally you have."_  The other vampire answered, raising one eyebrow quizzically.

_"It is hard to know which are allies and which are leading us into a trap."_  Arucard replied.

_"Indeed.  Call upon us if you need aid."_  The other vampire shifted, indicating his departure.

_"By the blood of the elders."_  Arucard answered and also shifted so he could head back to London with this news.

*-*

Camilla curled on the floor.  How long had it been?  Laurian had not come by but Camilla welcomed the respite.  Herod stopped by, daily?  More than that, always just long enough to rant at her, unleash a few brutal attacks on her.  The mages came too, Camilla could not prevent the screams that their experiments invoked.  No matter how much she thought that they had done their worse, the magicks beneath her flesh, peeling her open from bone to skin, the burning of the magick seeping in through her cells, she could never prepare for.

There was the other, Altena, whom she had ordered, like Judas, to betray her.  Altena kept to the fringes, trailing behind Laurian, murmuring to Herod.  She could not blame Altena…She had sent her into Herod's house, so sure was she in her belief that she would be victorious against him.

She was fed only when she passed out into blissful oblivion, then one of Herod's junior vampires would drip blood from some vermin over her lips, enough to awaken the hunger within her, enough to coax her into that barely conscious state.  Not unlike her early years, when she didn't understand it then, she knew now that she would not die of starvation but the hunger pangs of the beast within her would claw her from the inside.

Perhaps it with this near madness of hunger that compelled her, to perform the final act that so often had consummated the passion between her and Laurian, the act she had resisted each time Laurian was coaxing her body to yet another betrayal. So skilled was she with the knowledge of just how to make Camilla's body move beneath her.

Camilla arched and saw Laurian's smooth neck so close…She started to move closer, then held herself back.  For a moment, she closed her eyes, no, if she did this, it would be like she had given in to this façade.

The beast within her had no such qualms.  Laurian pulled her closer, and Camilla drew back her lips, her fangs lengthening.  When she arched again, her fangs pierced Laurian's neck and she began to drink.  Voraciously, as if she had never fed before.

Laurian gasped but did not try to pull away.  In her memories, she remembered this feeling.  The pounding of her blood spilling over Camilla's tongue.  There was more.

"Feed from me."  Camilla whispered to Laurian, needing the cycle of blood to be complete.

Laurian obediently bent her head over Camilla's neck, pierced the skin above the collar and began to feed.  Entwining herself against the woman beneath her as they began to move in a slow gentle rhythm, Laurian's human form shifting into the shadow and crimson creature form, Camilla could not shift, bound was she by the magicks she wore.

Camilla wept at the sensation of Laurian's blood filling her mouth and then the taste of her own blood coursing through Laurian's.  She held what she could of the form that felt like her lover tightly, undulating beneath the sinewy, insidious shadows that flitted over her flesh.

For the first time since her capture, Camilla felt her head finally begin to clear.  She tasted like Laurian; the rich crimson elixir had that sweet finish that she had loved about Laurian.

She felt Laurian suddenly pull back.  Camilla stopped drinking, slowly lapping the trickle of blood from the puncture wounds on Laurian's neck.

"Camilla?"  Laurian whispered questioningly, pulling back to look down at Camilla.  Manifesting fully into her human form.

Camilla tried to turn her head, she hated looking up into those green eyes that were exactly as she remembered, except they were missing that spark…The playful mirth dancing in those eyes.

"What…" Laurian pulled away, scrambling away from Camilla.

Camilla looked at her finally and saw confusion painted across that beautiful face.

"How am I here?"  Laurian asked, panic tingeing her voice as she grabbed her clothes and gathered them in front of her.

"Laurian?"  Camilla asked, daring not to believe.

"Camilla…By the blood, what happened to you?  Where are we?  How am I here!"  Laurian could not speak calmly.

Camilla gazed hard at the creature that had come in and like a walking doll for so many days and nights gone through the motions of all the things she had remembered about Laurian, without ever feeling like Laurian.  Now, the room filled with the other vampire's panic.

"I died…How am I here?"  Laurian turned her glare towards Camilla.

"Oh no…Oh no…no no no no.  No…Those are only tales.  We are not bought back.  I was not bought back by magick…" Laurian shook her head.

"Laurian?"  Camilla felt the spark of hope flare to life in her chest.

"No…I cannot be here, who bought me back?  Camilla? Was it you?"  Laurian asked, the memories of the last 9 months flooding back.

"Herod…" Laurian gave a small moan as she buried her face in her hands.

"Laurian, is it really you?"  Camilla began moving towards the other woman, her strength recovered mildly by the feeding.

'NO! Stay away…I'm sorry, I am so sorry…The things I did."  Laurian leapt to her feet and began to back away.

"Laurian.  Please…" Camilla stopped, looking up at Laurian.

"Camilla…You don't understand…We are not meant to come back, I should not be here.  I am bound to the blood that resurrected me.  I am bound to Herod."  Laurian whispered as she continued to back towards the cell door.

Camilla felt the small flicker of hope swept away by the force of the gust that slammed into her chest.  There was that pain, her constant companion, the wound bleeding freely again at Laurian's words.

Camilla crumpled to the ground, shivering.


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer information: All characters belong to their proper copyrighted owners.  The others are my creation.  See previous notes about Camilla.  Please use your own discretion in reading, as the content of the story will lead towards 'Yuri" and possibly lemon (I do not know the criteria of these definitions) which accounts for the R rating as there will be, in the upcoming chapters some violence and other adult themes.  I have not read the Manga and the assumptions regarding Arucard and his 'age' were based upon a now defunct fan site called "Intensity-Integral Shrine".  The name Altena is a nod to my other favorite anime, Noir, but is not actually based upon that character.  If you have not seen the following website Solid & Etc you should get there as soon as you can.  It is some of the most astonishing Hellsing inspired art I have ever seen.  Reviews and feedback are welcome.  **** **** **Chapter 8**

****

Altena followed the racing form of Laurian down the hall.  Laurian stopped and turned suddenly.

_"You betrayed her.  You…" _Laurian snarled.__

Altena recoiled slightly; this was not the moving mockery of the vampire she had been attending to these past months.

Altena bowed her head.

_"By her wish, I did as I was told."  _Altena replied.__

_"Stay away from me…Run and tell Herod whatever it is you run and tell Herod…" _Laurian snapped as she began moving quickly down the hall again.

Altena did not follow; instead she began to move back towards the cell.

_"Laurian?"  _Altena felt the question as she approached the door.__

_"No Lord Camilla, it is Altena."  _Altena answered gently.__

_"Altena?  Has it finally come to be your moment to exact your pound of flesh from me?"  _Camilla replied with little emotion.

Altena materialized into the cell.

_"No, it is not."  _Altena said, bending down towards the other woman.__

_"It matters not…" _Camilla replied, curling into a small ball.__

_"You are not alone here."  _Altena murmured before rising to leave.__

Camilla did not respond, she could only stare at the wall.  She felt herself slipping away from caring.  Whether it was truth or another of Herod's plots, she no longer cared.

Altena walked down the hallway.  Her head bowed as she thought back to her audience with Camilla before she had met with Herod.

*-*-*

"Altena."  Camilla had spoken her name softly when Altena had been delivered to her chambers.

"My lord."  Altena had kept her eyes to the ground.

Camilla had reached out and taken her face gently into her hands.

"Sweet Altena…Do you truly believe me to be unfit in my role?  So you truly think me a misfit?"  Camilla asked, gazing into Altena's violet eyes with her own dark ones.

"My lord…" Altena stammered, the nearness of Camilla causing her concentration to falter.

"When we were lovers, did you think it then?"  Camilla released her hold on Altena and moved away.

"My l…" Altena started to say but was cut off by Camilla's gentle,

"No…You have called me Lord enough on this day.  Will you not even say my name any longer?  Altena, you and Marcus, of anyone to…" Camilla stopped herself.

"You are not like us."  Altena finally said.  The sound of the explanation sounding weak to her own ears.

"I never was.  It didn't matter before, did it?  We traveled as companions, we were lovers, and when you and Marcus…When it was no longer the three of us, but the two of you…I wished you well."  Camilla answered.

"Camilla.  We are creatures, vampires, beasts that hunt and feed.  You are, so human…We indulge in satisfying our needs, feeding, sex, warmth, traveling with another when necessary.  You…" Altena tried to explain, although she knew it was not wholly true.  Being with Camilla, she had made her and Marcus feel like perhaps they were more than primal creatures.  They were sentient after all, and did feel, even if among their kind such things were dismissed as weakness.  

Camilla baited them to think, debate, read the words written by humans.  To aspire to take their powers and be more than killing machines.  She taught them how to laugh, taught them to appreciate passion beyond the need, taught them how to be still with one another.  She had asked once, why there were no great works written by their kind?  Surely creatures that walked the earth for centuries must have some insight into the condition of existence.

"How can you belittle what you and Marcus became to one another by saying it was just a need?"  Camilla asked, feeling so incredibly tired.

"You killed him, as was your right.  I do not belittle his memory."  Altena answered.  This too, made Camilla so unlike their kind.  She was and could be a brutal and ruthless vampire.  Then, she would sit and feel remorse over the actions she had taken.

"Altena.  I asked to have you here to give you a choice.  I will not send you to Herod, nor will I demand your fealty.  You tell me what you want from me, and I will give it to you if I am able.  I am sorry…My hand was forced, but it is of no consequence, I did what I did.

"I am tired of these politics and games.  Either I will defeat Herod, or Herod will defeat me.  Someone will rise to assume my position, or another will rise to claim Herod's House.  Time will march on, with or without us in the parade.

"For what you once were to me, for all those moonlight conversations, for the feelings I had, and obviously, still have for you.  As penance for having to kill Marcus to make a political point or the benediction of a woman who feels death might be waiting to dance with her tonight.  Tell me your wish."  Camilla said, moving back towards Altena.

Altena stared at the woman before her.  Damn her, damn Marcus…Damn the whole lot of this breed of bloodsucking corpses.  Damn this conscience which Camilla had obviously cultivated.  Altena and Marcus had talked about this, their betrayal.  Why had it seemed so right then and so wrong now?

"Why?"  Altena asked.

Camilla took Altena's hands in her own.

"For all the things I have already stated and because, even if it is unbecoming to our breed, I cannot deny that there is, or was a friendship between us.  There were already two pawns that Herod sacrificed today.  I don't feel like making it three."

Altena bent her knee and bowed before Camilla.

"Altena, don't."  Camilla tugged on her hands to get her to rise again.

Altena pulled her hands back down, so she was kneeling before Camilla, holding her hands above her head.

"My liege, tell me what you wish me to tell Herod.  I did not lie when I said that I would follow you as the most devout of your House.  I will serve where I can serve.  If victory is yours this evening, then, as you said, we can speak again.  If it is not, then the future is unknown how I can serve you."

Camilla knelt before Altena.

"This is truly the choice you make?"  She whispered softly.

"It is, I will speak it again if you did not understand my intention."  Altena replied, a very small smile crossing her lips.

"Then it is I who am humbled before you."  Camilla said, pressing her lips to Altena's fingers.

Altena's small smile grew.

"Forgive me my betrayal?"  She asked, leaning her head down to touch against Camilla's forehead.

"Always."  Camilla answered.

They had spoken for a little while longer, and then, Camilla had called for those who waited outside her chambers to escort Altena out.

Altena had waited, watching what she could, moving in the darkness and out of Herod's way.  Watching Camilla, she realized that she and Marcus had been foolish to listen to Theolus's insinuating questions, casting doubt on her ability to lead the House of Alexander.  So fickle were their kind, so easily seduced by the moment.  Camilla had endured all that Herod threw at her and never once asked for mercy, or even death.  

Now, Altena knew she would have to find a way to let the House know where they were, because she suspected the whole thing was going to unravel very quickly.

*-*-

 "All troops are in position?"  Hellsing spoke into the headset.

She listened as the troops rattled back their replies.

"We are support only.  There will be no excusable actions other than engage only if attacked.  I repeat, only if attacked."  Hellsing issued the command, removing her glasses to massage the bridge of her nose.

She would not be overly optimistic.  In the two weeks since Arucard's return from Paris, with the new information and the vast resources between Hellsing Organization, and the House of Alexander, it seemed like just the traction they needed.

So now, here they were, surrounding an innocuous building in the heart of Paris, the storefront a small patisserie shop that had apparently gone out of business.

Hellsing did not believe that they would actually find Herod inside, and if they did, she dared not hope that Camilla would also be here.  It had been almost a year since Herod had taken her.  Hellsing knew Herod was doing something; members of her troops on normal FREAK activity containment had disappeared.  The FREAKS were re-surfacing again, fiercer, harder to kill.   

Arucard waited.  Elder vampires were moving like shadows around the perimeter of the building, he knew they were trying to dispel the magick shields.  One of the Mage's Guilds had begrudgingly offered their assistance when an old debt was dug up between the House of Alexander and the Guild.  So, they were using countering talismans, combined with vampire controls to undo whatever traps and shields might be contained within the building.

Every vampire there, and there were many, wore other small talismans.  Enchanted for a limited 'cloaking' effect from the vampires within the building.  Arucard could not imagine how Herod could not sense the mass of dark power that waited outside his door.

Arucard was not inclined to believe in such things as hope, so he could only wait for either the confirmation or denial of whether or not this was truly Herod's sanctuary.  If this was not the place, as so many others had not been the place, then they would keep going until they found the place.

*-*-

Altena looked through the cell door at the figure that was curled in the corner.  Camilla was barely lucid these days, after the day the doppelganger had raced out of the room and in the subsequent days that followed.  Altena suspected Camilla's lucidity returned when Laurian came to visit her alone.

Laurian had not said anything since that day to Altena, but Altena saw the difference in her eyes.  Altena had no idea how Herod could NOT sense the change in the doppelganger, but apparently he did not, so focused was he on furthering the pain and humiliation he could visit on Camilla.

Altena's suspicions had been correct; Herod was bored and tired of Camilla's retreat.  So, he began to move onto his next stage.  She watched as young vampires, probably barely turned by those from any number of the House of Alexander, were paraded, tortured and executed before Camilla's eyes.  She watched as Herod slathered over the doppelganger, pawing Laurian before Camilla, evoking no response as well.  It wasn't until he started bringing the humans in, the ones dressed in military garb, from the Hellsing Organization, and killing them, that Altena could sense any change in Camilla.

The impact was two fold.  It seemed to be the only thing that truly seemed to bring panic into her dark eyes, and, it made her retreat even deeper inside herself.  She was more creature now than Altena had ever seen her.  Her dark eyes were huge in her face now, her fangs curled over her cracked lips, resulting in a path of dried blood down her chin.  Her dark hair was dull, matted and clumped, her features mostly hidden these days by the wild clusters of knotted hair that draped like old rope over her face.  She truly looked like an animal when Herod attached the chain to the collar he had placed on her that first day.  Camilla's neck was chafed and raw from where the collar sat.  Altena imagined that the rawness around her neck was what prevented Herod from realizing when Laurian had fed from her, that day now past.

Altena suspected though, as she did about the visits when Laurian went into the cell, that beneath the feral, dirty exterior, Camilla was still in there.  Watching and biding her time.

The effect on Herod was not unexpected.  The more she retreated, the angrier he became.

Altena had murmured to him, after he had unleashed his fury against Camilla's snarling form as she crouched in the corner.

"Lord Herod, it is not entirely unexpected that Camilla's mind would break as it apparently has."

Herod turned his furious gaze towards Altena, who kept her eyes focused on the floor, her head demurely bent.

"Now!!  Never, never in all the stories and tales and whispered rumors, is there tell of this.  She had lived years locked in cells smaller, conditions worse, although I have tried to outdo anything I know she has lived through."  Herod answered angrily.

Laurian watched, her face impassive, and her emotions as steady as her face indicated.  She could not ever let Herod know the effect his vendetta against Camilla was having on her.  For all he could know, she was the same dead inside creature he had dragged back from the true sleep.  The moments she shared with Camilla, in her cell, those were moments she treasured, when it was Camilla who spoke to her.

"Then, my Lord Herod should shout from the rooftops, that he is the Vampire that broke the will and mind of Camilla, former Lord of the House of Alexander.  Your will is the stronger, obviously.  You are the smarter vampire, for none had thought to bring back the one she prized above all others."  Altena murmured, knowing that Herod's ego would latch onto the praise immediately.

He did, he stopped mid stride and turned again to face Altena.

"By the blood!  You are right!  Then, all I need to do is finish out my vengeance and destroy the House of Alexander, then her.  She may be mad, she may be a beast, but already I have trained her to walk as a beast, I will keep her chained to my chair so I can sit by the fire and tell the tale of breaking Camilla Alexandre to my will.  Then, she can beg for scraps for the amusement of my new court."  He crowed, his eyes lighting up in his scarred face as he imagined the scene he just described.  He walked over to the prone form and absently nudged her with his foot.

Camilla snarled again and shrank further into the corner.  

Herod laughed and moved back towards Altena.

"Very good Milord."  Altena answered, casting a sidelong glance at the doppelganger.  She was not reacting.

Between the two of them, all they had to do was wait for those on the outside to put together the information she had been slipping out for so many months.

The Mages had already left, quietly disapproving of Herod and his mad outbursts.  They finished their contract with him, gave him the charms to equip the FREAKS to make them even stronger than before.  When they left, all the runes, the symbols, even the mystical burns, faded from Camilla's flesh.  The only marks that remained were the magicks that bound her, preventing her access to her powers.  All it did was bring into stark relief the new scars that now mapped over the old.

*.*.*.*

Arucard moved towards the door of the patisserie shop.  Everything was in place; the location appeared to be exactly where Herod was keeping Camilla.  One of the elders has slipped through the airshafts far enough in to view what the outside disguised.  He had confirmed sighting Herod and other vampires moving in the large space within.  He could not confirm absolutely, but suspected that a figure in the corner of the room may be Camilla.

"Teams are in position.  Waiting for your signal."  Hellsing said softly into the headset.  She knew that there was little her teams could actually do and she was still afraid to hope, even after what the elder vampire had said, that the long search was finally over.

Seras waited with a small group of younger vampires, assigned with several elders, just outside what appeared to be an old delivery door.  She and the other younger vampires had not yet mastered the shifting into shadows, so they would be entering as part of the overall attack force.  She could feel that rush that came upon her right before a battle.  She had learned as much as she could, building on her powers, remembering Camilla's words before she had been taken.  To learn the capability inherent to what she now was did not mean she had to sacrifice her own conscience.

_"Engage."  _The voice rang through Sera's head, as she knew it rang through every vampire there.  She had never seen such a gathering of vampires and had wondered but did not ask what Hellsing thought of this; so many vampires in one place, and the Hellsing organization on the perimeter, not attacking them.

Seras would only remember what happened when that thought command had been issued.  The elders had placed the magick talismans against the door and upon the command being given; they moved their hands in rapid succession and the door imploded inwards.  Tearing a hole in the wall and the magickal barrier large enough that they could all move through.

Seras sensed the room filling rapidly with vampires as the magickal barriers were broken through from the roof, the doors, walls, and the boarded windows.  It was a swarm of supernatural activity.  Behind those figures came the troops from the Hellsing organization to form a perimeter.

Arucard materialized in the center of the room.  Herod's face as the room filled transformed from anger to fear as he saw the sheer numbers filling the room.

"Request Control Release A-17 Containment."  Arucard said.

"Control release granted A-17, A-1 through A-25."  Hellsing answered quickly.  She stood at the periphery and contained the urge she had to run to the figure huddled in the corner.  She could not believe the feral creature was Camilla, but she knew in her heart it was.

The room exploded into a flurry of close range battles as Herod's vampires, FREAKS and hellhounds began to enter the room from the doors from deep within his sanctuary.

Altena shifted into her shadow form and moved back into the hall.  She noticed Laurian had neither moved nor transformed into her creature form.

None would remember how long the battle itself took, only that the aftermath left a room filled with dust, dead hellhounds and dying FREAKS.  Those wounded from Hellsing and the House of Alexander lay among their foes.  In dying, there was no distinction of whose side they had fought.  

Arucard had launched his attack against Herod but had only managed to contain several vampires and FREAKS and watched enraged as Herod broke a small vial around his neck and disappeared from the room.

In the odd stillness of the battle's aftermath, of which during the chaos preceding, neither Camilla nor Laurian had moved.

The wounded vampires and Hellsing troops began to mill around, clearing the room as those still fit chased the few stragglers still trying to escape while the wounded moved or were helped out towards the transports outside for medical aid.

Laurian turned towards Camilla, who watched with her glittering feral eyes.  Would anyone notice the shift of perception that crossed Laurian's face?  She could sense Herod was still out there.  She knew she remained bound to the vile creature and until he was killed, would remain so.  Then what would happen to her?  None would be able to tell her; she was, ironically, a walking dead among the walking dead.

Laurian smiled to herself as she shifted, only slightly, towards her creature manifestation.  Her fangs extended and were bared; her eyes flamed red, as she turned towards Camilla, hell-bent on attacking.

Hellsing saw Laurian transform and begin to move, quickly, towards the prone form of Camilla.  There was no conscious thought involved that compelled her to place herself between the attacking creature and Camilla's prostrate form.

Camilla watched Laurian begin to race towards her.  She saw Hellsing step in front of the attacking vampire, as if to shield her.

Camilla watched, horrified, as Laurian jerked forward, still rushing in her attack, now towards Hellsing, as she began to fall forward, Camilla saw the long silver blade protruding from Laurian's back.  The macabre dance as blessed bullets fired from Arucard, Seras, and even Walter emptied into Laurian, each of them perceiving her attack directed now towards Hellsing.  The mages who fought with them unleashed their own flurry of attacks.

"Nooo!"  Camilla cried out as Laurian fell towards the blonde woman.  Camilla would not remember this until much later, but Hellsing never once raised her own weapon at Laurian.  She had merely stepped in front of the attacking vampire.

Laurian grasped Hellsing's lapels and pulled her down.

"Love her with all your heart, for that is the way she will love you."  She whispered, her green eyes blazing with an intense fire as clear green met cobalt blue.

She let go and began to slide towards the ground.

Camilla struggled to rise and stumbled her way to Laurian's side as quickly as she could, Hellsing stood over the two women for a moment, then moved away.

_"Laurian.  My love, you cannot leave me like this. Not again."  _Camilla cried as she cradled Laurian's bleeding form.  She drew her wrist up to her mouth and sliced it open. 

_"Feed from me."  _She lowered it towards Laurian.__

Laurian turned her head away.  She could invoke the powers inherent to her race, she could, with but one sip of Camilla's blood gather enough fortitude to come back from the chasm of darkness she hovered over.

_"Sweet Camilla.  My truest love, do not keep me from the long slumber I was in.  Would you keep me here, bound to you as I was bound to Herod?  I am no longer what I was.  I am only a shadow moving through this time.  We spoke of this.  We got something that never happens to our kind, we had the chance to talk again.  You made me laugh again.  Now, you must let me go, you said all the things you wished you said, I have said all the things I wanted to say.  Our time is done."_

_"Laurian…" _Camilla wanted to force her to drink her blood, even as the truth of her words cut through her.__

_"The human…She cares for you.  Who else but a woman in love would throw herself in front of an attacking vampire?"  _Laurian smiled up at Camilla.  The playfulness in her green eyes masked behind the pain.

_"Please don't…"_

_"You grew up to be quite an astonishing testament of both human and creature.  You shame us all by being what we all should strive to be."  _Laurian's thoughts began to fade.

Camilla had that familiar sinking feeling, the one that haunted her nightmares, this moment when she could feel Laurian slipping away.

_"You were the greatest love of my life."  _Camilla said, cradling Laurian close to her.__

_"I know…" _Laurian gave a small pained laugh as she looked up into those dark eyes gazing at her so intently.__

_"But your life isn't over, so there could be a runner up."  _She said once the pain subsided.

_"Laurian…" _Camilla cried out, even as she knew Laurian was dead, again.  In moments, the form she was clutching became dust.  This time though, even the clothes, everything, flared in a momentary flash as the magicks were dispelled, and the dust began to blow away. 

Camilla hugged herself, rocking against the ground.  She did not think she could cry anymore, but the tears slipped down her face and the sound of her anguish poured from her lips, although Camilla did not recognize herself as the source for the keening sound filling the room.

Hellsing watched from across the room.  She was not sure what to do; Laurian's words rang in her head.  She sighed, all this frenzy to find Camilla, the ludicrous dream she had of what?  Swooping in like some hero to Camilla's distressed damsel.  Instead, she can only watch as the woman that was never far in her thoughts sobbed over the loss, again, of the love of her long life.

Arucard appeared beside Hellsing, as did Seras.  Neither spoke as they all bore silent witness to the grieving vampire woman.

"She is very weak."  Arucard spoke aloud.  Truth be told, had Herod wanted to kill her before making his escape, it would not have been a great challenge.  Camilla was a broken creature, so thin, obviously barely attended to.  He could only imagine how ravenously hungry she was.  Her body was consuming itself for sustenance; he could see every tendon, sinew and muscle in stark relief against her skin.  The flare of anger rippled along his spine when he saw the collar Herod had placed on Camilla.  Herod would pay…

Seras felt her eyes well with tears.  The sound of her grief pierced the air with such razor sharp intensity, the heartbreak tangible in the large room.  More than that, she could see the toll the last year + had taken on the strongest creature Seras had ever met.  She looked so feral, like a starving alley cat.  Seras realized that the creature was what was keeping Camilla alive.

Hellsing turned away from the vision of the woman she had spent every waking moment in the last year searching for.  The sound of her anguish and the vision of her so weak, the sign of her captivity written in bold relief across her body was breaking Hellsing's heart.

"Please make sure she has whatever she needs."  Hellsing murmured as she began to walk away.  Arucard looked at her retreating figure.

"You are not walking away from her now, are you?"  He asked, his voice, for the first time she could ever remember, hiding no other affect than the question.  She could almost imagine that this was what he might have sounded like when he was human.

"The fates have had their laugh at her expense.  My own private prank they threw in as a bonus."  Hellsing didn't stop.

Seras looked at Arucard, then back to Camilla, then towards the retreating Hellsing.

"Lord Hellsing."  She called out.

Hellsing paused only for a brief moment and then kept walking.

"I shall instruct that she is taken to Hellsing manor to recuperate."  Was all Seras said.  She herself could not explain the connection that had formed between her and the Lord of Hellsing manor.  It didn't involve words; it was an understanding, an understanding that revolved around Camilla.  

Arucard saw Hellsing nod ever so slightly as she moved towards the door.

_"Camilla?"  _Arucard asked softly.  Her anguish was all he could sense from her.

Camilla knew there were others in the room.  She had the vaguest sense that somehow, something had shifted.  There was no way out from where she was though.  She was operating on primal instinct only.

_"She is mad with grief…Laurian truly returned, a few months back, she stopped being just a doppelganger."  _Altena appeared beside Arucard.__

_"You sent the messages."  _Arucard asked, not wanting to interrupt Camilla's grief.

_"When Laurian's self, essence, whatever it is called, returned…Camilla, in all these months, she bore the doppelganger's cruelty, the mages experiments, Herod's rants and beatings.  She even escaped into sleep and there did not dream of Laurian…. Even then, these last weeks with Laurian, they talked when they could.  Laurian could not offer much by help, bound as she was to Herod's will, but they talked.  I know not of what.  Herod broke Camilla's will when he appeared to make good his threat to begin going after those she cared about.  When he bought in a Hellsing soldier, explaining all that he would do to tear down the humans foolish enough to align with the House of Alexander, that was when she became panicked.  She has been more creature than not since that day."  _Altena explained in a few brief sentences, to try and shed some insight into the state of the once proud head of the House of Alexander.__

_"You did not betray her."  _Arucard stated calmly, as he moved towards Camilla who appeared to have finally collapsed.

_"No.  I meant what I said when she spared my life.  I made a mistake, and by her grace, remain alive today.  There shall never be a moment from now until my death when I shall ever doubt Camilla and her place."  _Altena answered, following after Arucard.__

_"The Council will want to speak with you."  _Was all Arucard said.

_"I am here to serve Camilla and the House of Alexander."  _Altena replied as she began moving towards the cluster of elders who stared at her.


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer information: All characters belong to their proper copyrighted owners.  The others are my creation.  See previous notes about Camilla.  Please use your own discretion in reading, as the content of the story will lead towards 'Yuri" and possibly lemon (I do not know the criteria of these definitions) which accounts for the R rating as there will be, in the upcoming chapters some violence and other adult themes.  I have not read the Manga and the assumptions regarding Arucard and his 'age' were based upon a now defunct fan site called "Intensity-Integral Shrine".  The name Altena is a nod to my other favorite anime, Noir, but is not actually based upon that character.  If you have not seen the following website Solid & Etc you should get there as soon as you can.  It is some of the most astonishing Hellsing inspired art I have ever seen.  Reviews and feedback are welcome. **Chapter 9**

Camilla opened her eyes and saw the drowsing figure of Hellsing in the chair beside the bed.  She lifted the sheet gingerly, she was still covered in a filthy rag, the ordeal of the last year still caked upon her body.  The collar was gone at least.  The weight she had stopped feeling now blissfully absent from her neck.

She sensed someone watching her and saw that Hellsing had opened her eyes and was staring at her with that intense blue gaze.

"I remembered from your journal that you hated to awaken to find yourself cleaned and in new clothing.  Despite the smell, I made sure you were not disturbed.  The mages helped us in removing the collar.  If you feel well enough, there are new clothes and a bath off to the side that I can run for you."  Hellsing said, nodding to the room off to the side.

Camilla shook her head with the smallest of motions.  She could not speak; awakening reminded her all over again that Laurian was dead, again.  The lump in her throat grew as she turned her head away from looking at Integra Hellsing.

"Very well, at least have some more blood.  It was advised to allow you to feed slowly, every 6 hours you have been fed two bags.  It is almost time again."  Hellsing continued, standing to move towards the medical bags on the table.  She flicked open her pocketknife and sliced the tip of the tube, she pinched it between her fingers and turned back towards the vampire woman.

Camilla accepted the tube fed from Hellsing's fingers, numbly drinking the tangy contents.  Hellsing repeated the action when the first bag was emptied.

Hellsing stood quietly, not watching as Camilla fed.  She had seen the despair in those dark eyes and it felt like a cold fist was closing around her heart.  She knew it was foolish to think of anything except Camilla's recovery, if she ventured to close to the emotions she felt for the woman, she ventured too close to despair.  She did not naively think that Camilla would be as she was before she left, Hellsing knew that Laurian's death had all but destroyed the woman the first time, and it had happened to her again.

Hellsing removed the tube and tossed the empty medical bags into the wastebasket.  She turned to leave the room.

"I'll let you have some privacy.  If you need anything, there is a controller beside the bed, it will let myself, Walter, and Seras know you require something.  I am in the room outside this one if a simple shout is easier.  When you are ready, we have a team of doctors specializing in healing the kind of wounds you sustained, should you wish to.  They can also remove the bindings, their recommendation was you were too weak before, so we have waited."  Hellsing tried to make her tone light as she walked towards the door.

Camilla wanted to reply and could find no words.  She was stronger than she had been and even through the pain of Laurian's death, she appreciated the Hellsing's thoughtfulness in leaving her as she was.

Hellsing closed the door behind her and leaned heavily against the ornate oak.  She closed her eyes and sighed heavily.  No matter how she tried to make sense of it, she had no idea how she had come to this place in her life.  Emotionally unsettled by something that two years past she would have immediately categorized as an animal and ordered destroyed.  Now, her beloved Hellsing organization had aligned with a vampire House.  By that very action, she had compromised the very core beliefs she had been raised with her entire life.  Now, the other houses treated Hellsing Organization as a subsidiary of some kind of the House of Alexander.  

She had fought with Arucard vehemently.  

"I will not turn Hellsing into some 'service to kill rogue vampires so they don't have to sully their hands'.  The name of the organization is Hellsing, not Renfield, make sure they understand that."  She had yelled at him when he had come with a list of names of vampires.  Arucard had laughed and disappeared from her office, which had been moved, as she told Camilla, to the larger anteroom outside the small room where Camilla lay.

"Lord Hellsing?"  Seras asked as she walked into the temporary office.

Hellsing pushed herself away from the door and looked at the young vampire before her.  Seras had been there when Hellsing had been too exhausted to keep vigil over Camilla. Seras had fed the wounded vampire while Hellsing slept in the chair beside the bed.

"Is there any new intelligence?  We did track the mages to the correct locations?"  Hellsing replied moving over towards her desk.

"There is no new intelligence.  The mages guilds are willing to come forward to negotiate, as well as provide information about what they learned from their own investigations into the make up of Camilla."  Seras answered neutrally, she knew Integra would not react well to the news.

"They think they can negotiate?  That they can barter their own findings extracted by torture and live experimentation to us?"  Hellsing said, her voice cold.

"No, that is not what they think.  What they think is that the value of allies having this information rather than enemies would prove useful to us."  Seras replied, setting a file down on Hellsing's desk.

"Or they extort us, what is to stop them from starting a bidding war for those that want this information?"  Hellsing picked up one of her cigars and lit it.  Pausing to look at the silver lighter in her hand before turning back to Seras.

"They will not start a bidding war."  Arucard said, materializing in the hallway leading into the room.

Hellsing whirled and fixed him in that patented Hellsing gaze.

"And you are so sure because of what?"  Hellsing asked.

"They didn't really learn anything.  Nothing that would indicate a weakness, that is why they are wiling to come forward and negotiate."  Arucard answered, settling into one of the chairs.

"And that is supposed to comfort me somehow?  You saw what they did to her.  You saw the…" Hellsing stopped and turned away from the two vampires, her anger threatening to overwhelm her.  

Arucard and Seras did not answer.  Everyone sitting in the room could only imagine what had caused the scars and brands across what flesh that was exposed on Camilla.  That was the reason why Hellsing had sought the finest mage healers to be on standby when Camilla was ready.

"Come now, emotion has no place in negotiations with your enemies."  

Everyone in the room turned at the sound of Camilla's voice speaking from the doorway of her room.

Camilla stood, cleaned and dressed in a simple linen robe.  Her dark hair shorn close to her head, despite the almost weeklong feeding schedule, she still had a drawn look about her and coupled with the shorn hair, which she had obviously just done, looked like war refugee.

"You should not be up and around yet."  Arucard spoke aloud, not moving from his position.

"I needed to do something and I could not help but overhear the conversation."  Camilla smiled weakly and began to move slowly towards one of the chairs.

Seras was at her side in an instant and offered her support as she moved towards the chair nearest to her.

Camilla sat down and smiled at Seras.

"You have matured so very much in my absence."  She murmured and then turned to face the rest of the inhabitants of the room.

_"What do you think you are doing?"  _Arucard asked, still not moving from his position across her.__

_"I am doing what I always do.  I am surviving; I want to know what has happened. Where is Herod?"  _Camilla answered, no warmth in her response.__

_"We are still looking.  He cannot be far; we think he has gone underground.  Now is not the time, the houses clamor for new alliances since so many of them rose from the shadows to aid Alexander's House in your absence."  _Arucard figured he would tell her now rather than later.  All the politics, all the old alliances and grudges were coming to bear as the elders of many houses rose from the catatonic slumber.__

_"I see.  It is nice to be missed I suppose."  _Camilla answered.__

She turned her dark eyes to watch the pacing figure of Integra Hellsing, who would not look at her.  She clenched the cigar between her teeth and prowled from one end of the room to the other.

_"Will you excuse us for a moment?"  _Camilla asked both Sera and Arucard, her gaze never leaving the prowling woman.__

_"What are you going to say?"  _Arucard asked.  Seras only nodded and began to move towards the door.__

_"We need to talk."  _Camilla answered.__

_"Then know only this, I know you are grieving, everyone in the House of Alexander knows you are grieving.  None of us can escape the burden of that grief, so powerful is it, it runs like a cold shadow through our veins.  She is but a human; the time it could take you to grieve could be the sum of her lifetime.  If that is your intent, then sever this connection quickly and go brood on some other continent."  _Arucard said as he too began to move towards the door.

Camilla did not respond, she wanted to find some angry retort but recognized the truth of his words.  More than that, she did not know how to explain that beneath the grief, she found herself comforted by Hellsing's presence.  She had felt something move within her when she had awoken and seen Integra's blue eyes upon her.

"Integra."  She spoke once the room had emptied.

Integra paused in her pacing; the sound of her name falling from Camilla's lips froze her in her tracks.  She turned to face the woman sitting in the chair across from her desk.

"Camilla."  Hellsing responded, her voice sounding surer than she did.

"I want to thank you for once again, allowing me to recover in your house."  Camilla said her dark eyes gazing into Hellsing's blue ones.

Staring into those blue eyes, Camilla knew that it was Hellsing she dreamt of when she was in Herod's possession.  It was Hellsing she wanted to protect when Herod began his plan to make her pay.  Even Laurian, once she had truly returned, knew there was another who lived in her heart now.

Camilla could see the fear in those blue eyes, despite the cool tone of Hellsing's reply.

"You always mistake my generosity for more than it is Camilla.  There was no other place that would allow you the ability to recover so completely absent from those who are seeking to watch you.  Without costing a fortune in magickal shields."

"So, are you my protector now?  That would be ironic, the descendant of Hellsing, Knight of the Round Table, offering sanctuary to a vampire." Camilla answered, her tone light.  She wanted to know what she could say that would chase away that fear in Hellsing's eyes.

"You think the irony escapes me?  I have had ample time to try and reconcile what I have been raised to believe and…" Integra did not finish, she had not moved since Camilla had called her name, she had turned and been trapped by those midnight eyes, staring into her soul.  Now what?  What would she do now?  Hellsing knew she had, at best, another week while Camilla recovered, at least physically enough to go back to the House of Alexander.  She was steeling herself for the inevitable statement; Camilla was going to leave again.  She was going to disappear into the world of shadows and grieve over the loss of her true love and Integra was going to be left, counting the sands of time, as humans are wont to do, until the sands run out.  Hellsing hoped that she would not be on her deathbed, thinking still of those dark eyes she was gazing into now.

What else could she say to the vampire, the woman who was still watching her intently?  That Integra didn't know what to do with how she felt about Camilla?  How could she love something she swore to destroy?  All the discoveries about what and who Camilla was had not really changed the fundamental fact that no matter how she became one, she was a vampire.  Yet, the year she had spent getting to know Camilla and the ache that filled her heart when she had been taken.  Integra knew her mind was at the short end of a losing battle since every conviction she had, every argument she made to herself fell apart in the presence of the woman sitting across from her now.

Camilla watched Hellsing, the space between them was awkward and she was not sure how to change it.  She felt the exhaustion creeping up on her again.

"Are you ready for the doctors?  We can get the magickal bindings removed, they have several recommended salves and prescriptions, but I wanted you to be aware of them.  They are…" Hellsing finally turned away, she felt silly.  She could see Camilla trying to put up that front again, but Hellsing knew that Camilla was tiring.  Now was not the time for her insecurities.  The first step was making sure Camilla was safe and she was next make sure she healed.  Then, whatever was going to happen would happen.

"Mages?  Healers I presume."  Camilla answered, a chill running up her spine.  Logically, she knew that mage healers were the exact opposite of everything she believed mages to be.  They truly only ever offered their services to help, never to harm.  Their fees were often low, simple requests to keep hospices and other various fronts open where they could aid the ill.

"Yes.  We have, with your House, run extensive checks on each of the doctors."  Hellsing answered, finally moving to sit in her own chair.

"I trust you.  Not yet though.  Would you, could you help me back to the room?"  Camilla replied as she began to push herself out of the chair.

Hellsing leapt out of the chair she had just settled in and hurried around the desk.  She grabbed Camilla's hand and offered her support as she stood.

Camilla leaned against Hellsing as they turned towards her room.  Neither woman spoke as they made their way back to the room.  

Camilla finally sat on the edge of the bed; she grabbed Hellsing's hand and rubbed her thumb over the gloved hand, finding the outline of the ring beneath the glove.

"You wear the ring."  Was all she said.

Hellsing pulled her hand away quickly, before she could speak, Camilla had stood and was kissing her.

There was that sensation again, the falling, flying, shooting to the moon rush pounding through her.  Hellsing moaned slightly and wrapped her arms around Camilla's waist, feeling how thin she still was, pulling her tighter as the kiss deepened.

Camilla leaned back; her knees giving out and Hellsing followed her as she lay back on the bed.  They continued to kiss, Camilla wrapping her arms around Integra's waist.  Hellsing pulled back from the kiss when she realized she was laying on top of the other woman.

"I shouldn't, are you ok?"  She asked, shifting to the side and gazing down into Camilla's dark eyes.

Camilla smiled.  "I am exactly where I want to be now."  She replied as she settled against Hellsing's chest.

Hellsing shifted to get more comfortable and thought about leaning down to kiss Camilla again, when she realized that she was sleeping.  If that was what they did when they slipped into what looked like death.

*-*-*

When Camilla awoke again, she could hear the sound of a heart beating.  She lifted her head from Hellsing's chest.  The blonde woman was asleep, not having moved from the position when Camilla had fallen asleep.  

Camilla gazed at the sleeping woman.  In sleep, the fierce will dissipated and left only the innocence behind.  Laurian was right, this woman before her was in love with her.  More than that, she loved her back.  She mused on that statement.  In her long lifetime, the plethora of lovers and companions she had through the years, the fascinating, funny, primal and complex people and vampires that she had shared her attentions with.  None of them embodied as many contradictions as the woman before her.  None had challenged her, reviled and celebrated her as this young human female sleeping beside her.  Camilla settled back down into the warmth of Hellsing's body.  She lay there drowsing, remembering the kiss from the night before.  She began to catalogue all the small considerations the Integra had displayed towards her.  The large ones as well, Integra had obviously aligned herself with the House of Alexander to search for her.  That could not have been easy.

"Lord Hellsing?"  Camilla heard Walter's voice in the anteroom outside her room.  She did not want to waken the sleeping woman but felt the warm body shifting beneath her.  

Camilla looked into the deep blue eyes that were gazing down at her.  She was not surprised to discover that Hellsing awoke with such alacrity.  

"Good morning."  Integra said as she gave a small smile.

"I believe it is."  Camilla answered.

Hellsing reached out to touch the dark luxurious hair that had grown through the night.

"That must be convenient."  She laughed, wrapping her fingers into the silky softness.

"It has its' moments."  Camilla chuckled her reply.

Integra untangled herself and stood beside the bed.  She moved towards the door, then paused and turned back around.

"About…" She started to say but finished instead by leaning over and kissing Camilla again.  The same heart pounding rush filled her as she indulged in that kiss before pulling herself away.

"If your schedule is clear later, we could explore that a little bit more."  Camilla smiled from her reposed position on the bed.

Integra gave her a coy smile.

"Let me see what I can do."  She replied as she opened the door.

Walter turned towards the sound of her voice.

"Good morning Lord Hellsing."  He said with a smile.

"Good morning Walter.  What is this morning's agenda?"  Integra replied, trying to force her mind from the woman who lay in the room behind her.

"We have a briefing this morning.  Seras informed me that the Mage's Guild's are now indicating they can direct us to where Herod may be hiding."  Walter said as he began to move towards the tea set to prepare Hellsing's morning pot of tea.

Integra raised her eyebrow as she moved towards her desk, checking her appointments for the day.  She smiled to herself; she did not have anything after lunch, which meant she could pick up where she had left off.

"Really? That is interesting news indeed.  Walter, after today, I want to clear my schedule for the next two weeks.  The Mage's can wait, and since our attack, the FREAK activity has returned to pre-Herod levels.  I trust you can handle the administrative details for that time?"  Integra said absently as she flipped ahead through her calendar.  

Walter smiled even more broadly.  

"I believe I can take care of anything that comes up.  Should I cancel this morning's briefings?"

"No, no." Hellsing said, settling into her chair to begin sorting through what should be attended to in what would be the first vacation she had ever taken since becoming the head of the Hellsing organization.

Camilla sat in the room, finishing her second bag of blood.  She had resisted the urge to race out there to find out where Herod might be.  There would be enough time for her to find him on her own.  When she heard Hellsing discuss clearing her calendar for the next two weeks, she smiled broadly.

*-*-*

Seras stopped in the hallway.  She had seen Lord Hellsing's figure pacing through the manor.  Force of habit from Camilla's absence had dictated she begin to follow.

"Come out into the light."  Hellsing said, sensing the presence behind her.

Seras stepped out into the moonlit hallway.

Hellsing smiled at Seras somewhat distractedly.

"There is no need to follow me in the shadows."  She said.

"I am sorry, I felt you pass by and…" Seras started to explain.

"I know.  You have nothing to say about this latest development?"  Hellsing cocked her head as she gazed as the silhouetted figure.

"There is nothing to say Lord Hellsing."  Seras replied.  It felt like whenever they tried to talk was when the space between them became awkward.  In all the months she had come to Lord Hellsing during Camilla's absence, since the day she was captured, it was never with words that they seemed to understand the other.

"Ironic, no?"  Hellsing said as she turned to begin walking again.

"I am not sure what you mean?"  Seras said as she too began walking, slightly off to the side of Integra.

"Hrmm.  It is almost as if she is not really…Not really a vampire."  Hellsing said, moving through the rows of slatted moonlight coming in through the thin, narrow windows.

"It is because of the bindings I imagine."  Seras replied.

"What do you mean?"  Hellsing stopped and turned to face the young vampire woman.

Seras stopped as well, "The bindings don't allow her any powers at all.  She can communicate, you know, and feed but that is about it.  She cannot access any of the powers or controls.  That is why…" Seras stopped herself.  She did not need to finish the sentence.  She saw the flash of understanding in Hellsing's eyes.  That was why she could do nothing to defend herself in the year Herod held her.

"I see."  Hellsing nodded and began walking again.

The two women walked through the manor without speaking another word.  When Hellsing found herself in the hallway that led back to Camilla's room, she turned again towards Seras.

"Is there more?"  She asked.

"My Master is angry with her.  The Council is eager to talk with her, of course you know of the Mage's Guilds increasing demands as well.  He said to Lady Altena that the longer she persists in this masquerade of humanity, the more dangerous it becomes for her."  Seras answered.  Her master had all but stopped coming to see Camilla, the last time he had come, there had been a disagreement, of that there was no doubt.

Hellsing didn't answer but gave a small nod and then went into her office.

Seras looked at the door closing and then turned to head back to her own room.  Despite everything, her growing knowledge of the world she now belonged to, she still spent much of her time alone.  There were not many other young vampires that she found she had anything in common with.

Integra lit her cigarillo.  She turned and looked at Camilla, dressed still in the simple linen robe as she had been almost every day of these last two weeks, when she was clothed, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"You still have those bindings around your wrist and ankles.  Why?"  She asked, nodding at the shimmering threads of symbols that still wound around Camilla's wrists, forearms, ankles and calves.

Camilla looked down at her arms, then back at Hellsing.

"It is more complicated than it appears."  Camilla replied.

"Really?  You don't want all your powers back?  It seems like so long as you are bound, you appear almost human."  Hellsing answered coolly.

Camilla shifted uncomfortably and turned her eyes away from that cool, piercing gaze.

"That is ridiculous Integra."  She answered, tugging the sleeves of her robe down over her wrists.

Hellsing sighed as she moved towards Camilla.  She put her cigarillo down in the ashtray and took Camilla's hands in her own.

"You did this because of me?"  She asked gently.

"Really?  Center of the world are we?"  Camilla responded lightly, still avoiding Hellsing's gaze.  

"Camilla…Please.  You think I don't know what you are?  I fell in love with you, all of you.  Is it easy to admit that to myself?  No.  Will it be easy once we end this self-imposed vacation where we have both avoided the reality of this situation? Absolutely not.  The longer you refuse to take back your power, the higher the risk to those you care about and yourself.  I don't think I could stand it if…If something were to happen to you again."  Hellsing said, her voice lowering as she said the last sentence.

Camilla finally turned her gaze towards Integra Hellsing.  The warmth of her hands in her own cool ones, the intoxicating nearness of her, Camilla was finding it hard to locate the words to tell this beautiful creature before her that was only part of it.  The rest of it, the shadow that was still Laurian's recent death, all the politics that she knew waited outside these doors, Herod still out there.  Hiding in here, stripped of all her powers, except the barest creature ones, she could almost pretend that she was but a human woman again.  She could revel being wrapped in her lover's arms, wasting away the hours in exploration and discovery of the flesh.

"Integra…You are right.  I have wanted to extend, as long as I could, this moment in time.  I wanted to hold on to what it felt like, almost, to be human again.  Not just to feel what it was like to be almost human, more than that, a woman in love.  Not Camilla Alexandre of the House of Alexander, not quite vampire, not quite Dhamir, not quite human.  Certainly not all those things with Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing, Knight of the Round Table, head of the Hellsing Organization, member of the Royal Knights of the Protestant Order.  I wanted it to be just you and I, here, with each other."  Camilla said softly, gripping Hellsing's hands in her own.

Both woman gazed at each other.  Clear blue and midnight dark eyes stared into each other.  As so often happened these days, the intensity of the emotion, the nearness of the other, they moved closer towards one another and their lips met.  All the things that were too painful to say, too hard to think about disappeared when their bodies met and communicated in a way that superceded the words that sometimes rose between them.

Slowly, tenderly, between the kisses and gentle caresses, Hellsing's layers of clothes began to disappear and her own hands quickly freed Camilla's form from the linen gown.  

Integra bent down and feathered kisses between Camilla's lips and her wrists.  She trailed a line of kisses up the other woman's arm and finished with a long, deep kiss.

Camilla had long since given up being surprised the effect Integra Hellsing's attention had on her body.

The afternoon passed into evening, the two women lost in each other and the heights their passions were taking them too.

Hellsing looked into Camilla's dark eyes, the pupils rimmed in red, she leaned forward,

"Feed from me."  Hellsing murmured into Camilla's ear, arcing her neck towards Camilla's lips.

"I told you before, your blood would never pass my lips."  Camilla replied, nuzzling the warm flesh, her lips brushing ever so slightly against the throbbing vein beneath the alabaster skin.

Hellsing chuckled, wrapping herself even tighter against Camilla's cool naked form.

"You are already a liar on that promise, Camilla Alexandre.  Whose blood do you think you fed on these last few weeks?  It was my blood alone that nourished you back to health."  Hellsing whispered as she nuzzled the earlobe before her lips.

Camilla drew back so she could look into Hellsing's blue eyes.

"You fed me only your own blood?  Are you sure?"  She asked she could feel Hellsing's heart beating against her own chest.  She was so warm, this beautiful creature in her arms; Camilla had reveled in invoking wave after wave of pleasure upon the blonde woman's body and had been taken by surprise with Integra's own ferocious reciprocity.

"You know what I am asking for.  It is the fulfillment of the bond of love for your kind."  Hellsing answered, her answer completely honest.

"You know then the rest of it."  Camilla said; as she bent down to kiss those wonderful, silken, magical, lips.

"Well, that part…" Hellsing answered in between the kisses.  She did not want to think about that.  The mutual feeding, she had read about it in the archives she had been granted access to.  She was not ready to become what she swore to destroy.  

"My love…I swear it to you again, your blood shall never pass from your flesh to my lips.  Thank you for the offer, but I meant what I said.  I shall never take a drop of blood from your body."  Camilla said, seeing the shadow in Hellsing's blue eyes.

Integra smiled weakly.  "Thank you.  Is that the value of living a multitude of lifetimes? Knowing when the folly of passion will lead to regret later?"

Camilla laughed, "I make no such claim to wisdom like that.  I think I have followed gleefully down the path of passion with you, and folly be damned."

"I wonder if one day that promise would cause you harm."  Integra said, her mood sobering again.

"Such is the price I would pay."  Camilla answered.

"You will allow the healers to remove these bindings then?"  Hellsing said, running her fingertips lightly over Camilla's forearm and wrist.

Camilla sighed as she rolled to her side.  "Yes, we can arrange for it tomorrow.  I expect it will not be a pleasant experience."

"That is another reason, isn't it?"  Integra murmured.

"It is very painful, magickal bindings and unbinding."  Camilla shuddered at the thought.  She could almost feel the pain beyond imagining coursing through her body again.  She curled in tighter into a ball.  Her fists clenching as she struggled to not let the panic overwhelm her.

Hellsing reached out and held the vampire woman.  "I will be there with you, every step of the way."  She whispered to the shivering figure.

*-*-*-*

Camilla lay on the stone platform.  She was fighting every urge within her that wanted to flee from the room.  She had met all the mage healers, one on one and they had all expressed great consternation over the state of what she had been subjected to.  She was not bound, the room was well lit and she could see Integra over in the corner.  She was listening to one of the mage healers intently, nodding her head slightly as the mage spoke.  

Seras was standing near the platform, Arucard stood beside her.  The chambers outside this room were filled with entire troops of the Hellsing organization, not to mention the vampires from her own house prowling outside the building, in the sewers, on the roof top.

_"Could you be any more…" _Arucard said peevishly, Camilla's panic was filling his head like so much smothering fog_._

_"Do not worry Camilla, such apprehension is understandable."  _Seras answered.  Her master was right, Camilla's fear was filling up every space in the room but telling her so was not likely to lessen it in any way.__

_"I am sorry.  I…The…This is one thing, after everything I know, the controls, our own magicks…" _Camilla tried to articulate the purely primal fear that she felt with the mages.__

_"I understand."  _Arucard replied.  He knew what it was like to be experimented on while alive, having things magically attached to you.  That was one of the reasons that he depended on Hellsing to release his controls.  He too had his own bindings of a sort.

Since she had made the decision to have the bindings removed, Arucard had spoken to her about all that waited for her when she returned to her place as the head of the House of Alexander.  She continued to dodge answering when she would be ready to return, but once she had made the decision to have the bindings removed, it would be a short time indeed.__

Integra walked over to where Camilla lay on the platform.  After their conversation and a few more days of convincing, Camilla had agreed to have the bindings removed.  Hellsing could see in those dark eyes the panic that Camilla was struggling with.

"They say it should not take very long.  They had indicated that they could give you a sleep draught, but I told them I would check with you first."  Hellsing said, her fingers wrapping around Camilla's clenched fist.

Camilla opened her fist only slightly.  She weighed the options, a sleep draught meant she would be blissfully unconscious, but that thought frightened her almost as much as the pain she envisioned.  She shook her head.

Hellsing nodded and then turned back towards the healer mages.  She beckoned them over with her free hand.

She turned back and smiled down at Camilla.  "I am right here, always."  She said.

The mage healers began a low chanting and Camilla felt a shiver run up her spine.  One of the mage healers approached her, with a gentle smile, began to lay crystals around the perimeter of the stone platform.  Dry hands feathered along her wrists and ankles as he dabbed a light powder on the markings.

When the chanting became louder, Camilla felt that sensation, that icy fire sensation in her flesh.

"No…Please, no."  Camilla murmured, the panic threatening to overwhelm her, her fists clenching.

"I am here.  There is no danger.  Look at me, Camilla…Look at me."  Hellsing said, gripping the vampire's hands that had clenched back into a fist.  She forced Camilla's face to turn towards her.

"You are not bound, you are free.  Lift your hands and touch me if you do not believe my words."  Hellsing said, trying to force by her own will, the panic back in Camilla's dark eyes.

Camilla looked into those blue eyes, gazing into her own with a fiery strength.  She raised her hand tentatively, and then touched Hellsing's face leaning over her own.

The pain increased for a brief moment and then subsided.  The low thrumming pain Camilla could handle.  She stared into those blue eyes, holding her own as steady as the ocean, the warmth of the face which she held above her own.

It was over in a very short time, but it stretched like an eternity before Camilla.  The whole time, she gazed into those blue eyes, which never wavered from her.  Her hands held the entire time by Integra's own.  When the very last remnant of pain subsided, the mages stopped their chanting, the crystal's light subsided and Hellsing helped Camilla up to a sitting position.

"Are you all right?"  Integra asked, Camilla was shivering.

"Yes.  Yes, thank you."  Camilla answered, she smiled at Integra Hellsing.  If there was ever a feeling of gratitude she had at this moment, she could not imagine when it was.

_"So it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be was it?" _ Arucard said wryly, shifting to appear beside the women and the stone platform.__

_"A walk in the park, indeed."  _Camilla replied.

"Then you are restored?"  Seras asked, nodding down towards Camilla's hands, which were still entwined with Integra's.

Camilla looked down and saw that indeed the shimmering threads that had wrapped around her wrists and up her forearms were gone.  Just a thought and she could feel the power surging through her again.

"I am."  Camilla smiled.

_"You know what that means?"  _Arucard asked.

"I know.  Summon the Council…In 5 days time."  Camilla answered.

Arucard's cocked his head, but did not respond except to nod.

"Seras, let us go.  There will be, once again, much to prepare for."  Arucard said as he tipped his hat towards Hellsing.

"Lord Hellsing, the commanders have been informed of the briefing."  Walter said, approaching the two women.

"Very well, I shall be there in within the hour.  Everyone has the briefings?"  Hellsing answered, her eyes never left Camilla's face.

"Yes Milord."  Walter said moving away.

"Let me help you back to the room.  I shall be back as soon as I am finished with the briefing."  Integra said as she held out her hand to help Camilla.

"Do you think I need help?"  Camilla smiled as she leapt down to stand on the floor.

"For someone who has lived as long as you, you can be dense.  Mostly because I wanted to be alone with you."  Integra smiled back at Camilla.

Walter watched the two women standing beside the platform.  Camilla's return had changed Integra Hellsing, for the better so far as Walter could observe.  If her mood was dark when Camilla had been gone, it was light now that she had returned.  Those who did not know Lord Hellsing might not be able to pinpoint the change but Walter had seen it.  

Walter had been astonished when he saw Camilla after the first time she had been returned from Herod's.  Arucard had carried her into the room, the room she had been placed before.  Walter looked at the thin, ragged figure Arucard was carrying in.  He did not realize at first what it was until he got closer.

He had watched Lord Hellsing devote herself to Camilla's care and had seen the feral creature that slept and ate and slept again become the vampire woman he knew.

Even now, as he watched the two women walking back towards the manor, a contrast of light and dark as they moved, one complimenting the other.  Camilla still looked thin.    There was something changed about her since her return from Herod's.  Camilla had, despite her abundant charm, always been aloof but now she seemed to be protecting some part of her self.  Except when she was with Hellsing.

Walter knew that the two of them were trying very hard to not talk about the reality that they found themselves in.  On the rare occasions that he saw Hellsing alone, prowling the halls of the manor, she was often, not uncommonly, deep in thought.  He saw her in the study sometimes, gazing intently at the picture of her grandfather.  The times, they have changed.

*-*--

Integra sat in her briefing.  She was only marginally paying attention to the commander speaking at the other end of the table.  She could not help but think back to the woman she had just left.

Integra had recognized the shift in Camilla's strength now that the bindings were removed.  Her body was just beginning to ache with that delicious ache from Camilla's earlier attentions.  

Integra had spent her entire life willfully ignoring the 'base passions' that she believed to be a distraction from her mission in life.  There had been no shortage of men who had tried to garner, on some level or another, her attention.  Some women as well, in the select circles she traveled in.  Hellsing had never given it a second thought.

Her closest relations had been Walter and whatever connection she had with Arucard.  There was nothing about Camilla that resembled Arucard, other than the attribution they shared of their species.  Camilla was an expert and attentive lover and Integra wanted nothing more than to go back to those arms and drown herself in those lips.

Every moment Integra spent with Camilla, only made her realize she wanted to spend 5 more just like it with her.

"So, this must be love."  Integra mused to herself as the next commander stood to give his briefing.

Integra looked down and opened the next folder, lest it be revealed she was not paying attention.  


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer information: All characters belong to their proper copyrighted owners.  The others are my creation.  See previous notes about Camilla.  Please use your own discretion in reading, as the content of the story will lead towards 'Yuri" and possibly lemon (I do not know the criteria of these definitions) which accounts for the R rating as there will be, in the upcoming chapters some violence and other adult themes.  I have not read the Manga and the assumptions regarding Arucard and his 'age' were based upon a now defunct fan site called "Intensity-Integral Shrine".  The name Altena is a nod to my other favorite anime, Noir, but is not actually based upon that character.  If you have not seen the following website Solid & Etc you should get there as soon as you can.  It is some of the most astonishing Hellsing inspired art I have ever seen.  Reviews and feedback are welcome.**** **** **Chapter 10**

Camilla sat atop the highest spire of Hellsing manor.  She crouched comfortably as she watched the moonlit grounds beneath her.

_"You do not sleep?"  _Arucard materialized beside her.

_"It is the deepest night, is this not the time when I should be awake?"  _Camilla responded without turning to look at him.

_"It has not been your custom of late, that was the only observation."  _Arucard answered, ignoring the mild sarcasm.

_"This cannot go on…"  _Camilla said.  It had been another year and the fears that she and Hellsing had skirted in the beginning had not disappeared.  She could only imagine what Integra was facing, she knew that in her meetings with the Council and the other houses, there was often vehement discussion on her edict to not use the Hellsing Organization for vampire business.

_"Really?  I thought perhaps we were heading towards a bright new future of vampires and humans living in peaceful co-existence.  I was even thinking we should select a holiday to commemorate the occasion."  _Arucard answered, not bothering to disguise his own sarcasm.

The past year had been so very strange to him.  Firstly, there was the infernal presence of the other vampires.  It had been bad enough when he had to deal with the Council in Camilla's absence, but after her return and eventual recovery, the new alliances, the court reconvening.  He could barely move through London without seeing some vampire or another in the shadows of the night.  More than that was the relationship between Camilla and Hellsing.  They were very particular in trying to not allow their respective responsibilities to cross over, but when one is the head of one of the oldest vampire houses and the other is head of the largest, and oldest vampire hunting organization, such conflicts were inevitable.

He had made a deliberate point to not involve himself to heavily in either.

_"The Court, the Council, all clamor to have their grievances addressed, what new direction are we taking, how can we use this new alliance with the humans to our advantage?  Herod remains hidden, the mages have made an uneasy peace with us, the intrigues and manipulations all come to light again."  _Camilla rambled the thoughts that had been preying on her mind for so many weeks now.

_"So true love wanes then?"  _Arucard said.  He suspected this day was coming, Camilla's passing fancy's didn't normally last this long, but she was Camilla after all.

Camilla didn't answer.  It was not waning.  Except, she was realizing, as the Court attended, the elders came to visit with her and remember suddenly centuries old grudges against other houses and she listened to her own Council members, that she was putting Integra in danger.  

There had already been tension around the freedom that the other houses were willing to send to her requesting Hellsing Organization be sent to address some matter or another.  She knew Integra had to be dealing with much the same from her own peers.  The Royal Order of Protestant Knights were none to pleased with the development of Camilla's return.  The Vatican had been overjoyed and sent several attack squads against vampires and the Hellsing Organization.  

_"I had forgotten how you can be when you choose to brood.  I want to practice the new controls again, find me when you come up for air."  _Arucard said as the sky began to lighten.  He had enjoyed Camilla being back, but, her presence often meant a gaggle of followers.  She had been, as she always was, more than helpful in teaching him new powers.  She also trained Seras and continuing to speak to his progeny.  Seras was coming, while still very young as a vampire, into her own power. 

Camilla nodded as he disappeared.  She was thinking of earlier in the evening.  Both she and Integra had meetings to attend.  Camilla had come by to surprise Integra and found her in her office, staring out the window, smoking her cigarillo.  Camilla had seen the letter with the letter opener staked though it.  When she approached, she glanced at it quickly.  On Royal letterhead, with the crest of the Royal family, something about the efficiency of the Hellsing Organization and in consideration of past 'mistakes' the continued value going forward.

Integra said nothing of the letter, she had greeted Camilla with open arms and warm kisses.  She spoke of the new FREAK activity that appeared to be happening out towards one of the smaller towns outside London.  That was the agreement between them, they could speak of 'work' but very lightly.  Seldom did they venture into the territory about the rest of the obligations they were each responsible for.

Camilla stared at the glittering city before her.  She had wanted to offer a respite to Integra, not be the source of contention for her among her peers.  Laurian had always said she was so naïve when it came to her belief that love could transcend everything.  Everything but the desires that drive vampires and humans.  Camilla missed Laurian, after she had returned to herself; Camilla re-discovered the pleasure of their talks.     

She could talk like that with Integra, the problem arose when it ventured into the territory of the houses or the Council or Hellsing's responsibilities.  

Camilla had entertained on more than one occasion just giving up her place as head of the house of Alexander and wanting to tell Integra they could just go away.  They could live somewhere, away from people and other vampires.  Except it was not in either of their natures to be content in such a life.  

Camilla had mixed reactions about her intense feelings for Integra.  In the years since her first meeting with the young woman, she had watched her move into her adulthood.  She was even more beautiful now than when Camilla had first met her.  Camilla knew that she would be striking until the day she died.  There was that, another elephant in the room they never talked about.  Camilla knew that she would never turn Integra into a vampire but sometimes she wished that this woman would be around for centuries because that was how long it would take her to know her.

"I am under your curse now but I call it compromise."  Camilla whispered, echoing a sentiment Integra had said to her earlier.

Camilla sighed.  She knew what she had to do before the spinning plates began to crash around them.

*-*

Integra opened her eyes to the bright morning shining into her room.  She glanced over and saw the bed was empty.  Camilla had left in the early morning hours no doubt.  Integra smiled to herself.  The past year and then some had been like living in some fantastic dream.  Despite everything they both dealt with in their respective lives, when they were together, everything else seemed to vanish and that secure sense of peace and happiness would surround them.

She stretched as she swung her legs over the side of the bed.  Would that she could have that feeling in every aspect of her life.  The repercussions of being involved with Camilla had slipped into every other facet of her life.  The Queen had mad her disapproval official in her last communiqué to Hellsing.  The Round Table and the Protestant Knights were no less disapproving.  On some level, Hellsing saw the validity of their disapproval.  She herself knew that if it were anyone else in her position, her voice would be the most adamant.  

She had made an uneasy peace within herself about the fact that her lover was a vampire.  A creature she had sworn her whole life to destroying.  She could rationalize it and tell herself that Camilla wasn't really a vampire, she was an unfortunate victim of circumstance, imbued with powers and attributes that made her look like a vampire.  Even Integra knew that argument was weak when she stacked it up against everything else.  Camilla led one of the most powerful vampire houses, which meant she controlled a legion of Category A Prime vampires and had access to many more.

The truth of the matter was, all that disappeared when she was with Camilla.  She had watched with some amusement Camilla transitioning into the 21st century.  Hellsing suspected that was one thing that attributed to her staying power, her willingness to embrace what the new world had to offer.

When Walter arrived with her morning tea, she was dressed and sitting behind her desk.  The reality of her position making its' presence known again as she reviewed the latest batch of memos and communiqués.

"Good morning Lord Hellsing."  Walter said as he entered the room.

"Good morning Walter.  Everything is ready in preparation for this afternoon's meeting?  The Queen's representatives have accepted?"  Integra replied.

"Yes.  There are some noticeable absences from the members of the Round Table, but I believe it was not something we had not expected."  Walter said, putting the tea tray down.

"Yes, I was expecting that.  Another proud moment is about to take place in Hellsing history."  Integra said solemnly.

Walter looked over at the woman and could not discern any humor in her features.  He merely nodded his assent.

*-*-

Everyone in the room focused on the two women standing at the end of the large conference table.

Along one side sat Arucard, Seras, Altena and others from the Council of the House of Alexander.  The other side sat Walter, Hellsing commanders, the Queen's representatives and members from both the Round Table and Protestant Knights.  The center of the table shimmered only slightly from the magickal barrier that separated the two.

Integra and Camilla were facing each other.  Power emanated from Camilla as she fixed Hellsing  in a withering glare.

"Lord Hellsing, perhaps you did not hear my last statement?"  Her voice was cold, her eyes glittering dangerously.

Several of the Commanders reached to their hips, hands resting on their holsters.  Across the table, several vampires shifted.

Camilla turned her gaze towards the humans.

"It would be incredibly foolish to think that if you opened the gates to a bloodbath, that it would not be your blood to fill this room."  She said.

Integra stared at Camilla.  Her own gaze harsh, not revealing the confluence of emotions battling within her.

"I heard what you said Lady Camilla."  She replied tersely.

"Then our business is concluded?"  Camilla turned her attention back to Integra.  She wanted to grab Integra and smother her again with kisses.  Kisses that she could still taste from earlier, before they entered this room.

"I am not sure that it is.  You are aware the implications of your statement?"  Integra asked, trying to understand how the woman before her could be the same woman from only hours earlier.

"You humans are so entertaining with your consequences and implications.  Do you understand?  There is no more alliance between my house and your organization.  I am sorry if you were misled to believe that such a thing truly existed."  Camilla gave a small humorless laugh.

"What are you doing?"  Arucard asked.  He was not surprised by the turn, just the viciousness of Camilla's cruelty.

Camilla did not turn to face him.

"Those obligations that existed before my awakening will continue to hold.  The House of Alexander will, in honor of the debt I owe you for your assistance, such as it was for a human, leave this continent.  For the rest of you,"  Camilla turned and faced the men representing the various factions of responsibility Hellsing was obligated to, "I assume that you will likewise honor the shred of the same?  It should not be much of an issue for you, the House of Alexander does not expect to remain here very much longer.  As for the other houses, I make no claims towards their actions."

Integra felt as if her heart were collapsing within her chest as Camilla spoke.  Through sheer force of will she looked coolly at Camilla.

"I believe your point is now absolutely clear.  Forgive the misunderstanding."  She said through clenched teeth.

Camilla nodded and turned away.  She began to walk from the room.  Altena and the other vampires that had accompanied her rose and followed her.  Arucard stood as well, his red eyes blazing.  Seras very gently lay her hand on his arm.

_"Master.  Let her go."  _Seras said.

Arucard turned and looked at his young ward.  First, amazed that she spoke to him in such a manner, secondly, that she, of all people, would sit by and let this happen.  He could sense Hellsing's turmoil, though, true to form, she masked the emotions from those in the room.  Camilla he could sense absolutely nothing from.

_"How dare you humiliate her like this."  _He said to Camilla.

Camilla kept walking and did not bother to respond.  Once outside Hellsing manor, she shifted into her shadow form and flew up into the darkening sky.  

Altena watched her go, and then also shifted into her shadow form and began to follow.  The other vampires shifted and began to disappear, one after the other.  The chatter between them quick and excited;  They loved gossip and this story would keep them entertained for months.

Altena followed Camilla to the outskirts of London as she transformed back into her human form, settling on a crumbling church wall.

Camilla covered her face in her hands and began to weep openly.  More than any moment she could recall, she hated now, more than ever, the curse of what and who she was.

_"My liege, you had no choice."  _Altena said as she put her arm around the grieving woman.

_"We always have a choice Altena.  I made this one to protect her.  I could not deny the whispers and the rumors.  She was rapidly becoming a target."  _Camilla replied, her despair evident.

_"You did not let her know any of that, did you?"  _Altena replied.  Altena had seen the shift in Camilla in the last few weeks, her questions being asked to the Council, the Court, all led to her decision today.  Altena had been only mildly surprised when Camilla had announced they would attend this meeting with the Hellsing organization.  She could tell from Arucard's reaction that he did not realize how efficiently Camilla would execute her plan.

_"It had to be done, in front of the Council and her own people.  There could be no question that I was done with my human dalliance."  _Camilla could only remember the cold fury in Integra's eyes.  Hours earlier, she had gazed into those same blue eyes and felt them touch, like they always did, into the deepest part of her.

Camilla would rather have Hellsing alive and hating her than loving her and dead because of it.

Altena did not answer, instead holding Camilla as she continued to cry.  The sobbing becoming more intense as the true consequence of what she had just done sunk in.

*-*-

Hellsing stormed back to her office.  She had sat and listened to the 'approval' of this being the right decision in the end by her commanders, the Queen's liaisons and those idiots from the Round Table.  The Knights representatives had been conspicuously quiet in their feedback.  Arucard had stayed only long enough to listen to the start of the vampire bashing before snorting in disgust and disappearing from his seat.  Seras sat, alone, across from the others, for the entire meeting.

She slammed open the door and glared around the room.  Her eyes went towards the room that she had spent so many nights in this last year with the vampire creature that had just dismissed her as so much…Trash.

"Lord Hellsing?"  Seras had followed Hellsing and stood in the anteroom.

"What do you want?"  Hellsing snarled not turning to look at Seras.

"Please do not judge her actions."  Seras said as she moved towards Integra Hellsing.

"Don't judge her actions!!  Don't…Were you there!!"  Hellsing could not contain her fury and hurt as she screamed at Seras.

"Please.  I…I was asked to make sure that you were ok."  Seras replied.  Camilla had spoken to her when she had had stepped into the room.

_"You will hear something that must be said.  Continue to watch over your Lord Hellsing.  She will hate me after this afternoon."  _Camilla had said without acknowledging she was speaking to her.

"Get out…"  Hellsing shouted, still not looking at Seras.

"Yes, Lord Hellsing."  Seras said and walked back out of the room.  She debated for a moment on staying just outside the room but thought better of it.  She also sensed that her Master would be about as well.  She wondered why Camilla had given her the slightest clue of what she was going to do and not her Master.

Integra gripped the edge of her chair tightly. Her knuckles whitening as she struggled to control the hurt that she had kept contained for so long.  Tears streamed down her face as she tried to make sense of Camilla's sudden turn.  Hours before, she had been wrapped in those amazing arms.  Both of them sneaking away in the middle of the day, to indulge in a mid afternoon tryst, and not once did Camilla say one word...

She finally moved to collapse into her chair.  She saw the small envelope sitting tucked into one of her files.  She narrowed her eyes.  Did she really want to bother?  She reached down and picked up the small vellum envelope.

If the hurt within here wanted to rip the letter up and throw it away, there remained, as always, the pragmatic side of her which opened the envelope.

Yes, it was a letter from Camilla.  She recognized that beautiful script written across the paper she unfolded.

My sweetest beloved-

I can only hope that you will read this letter and allow me some small respite from your fury.  I am aggrieved to the deepest recesses of my being for the pain that I will cause you.  I know that you are under incredible pressure from your peers, the Royal family, your own organization, all because of me.  I can almost hear you reply to me, asking if I am the center of the world very much.  It is you who are the center of my world and that makes you the focus of far too many eyes.

I love you Integra Hellsing.  I love you as I loved only one other.  I am afraid that these moments, which I treasure, will have disappeared from me so quickly as you live out your mortal life.  I am selfish, I cannot deny, I want to spend more than the decades you have on this earth.  But, I would never ask you to become that which you are, by your very blood, sworn to destroy.  It would not suit you, my beautiful, proud, astonishing Integra.

I would rather live with you hating me and alive in this world than loving me and not.  I have no choice, I have been told that already there are those who see you and your organization as the perfect opportunity to attack the House of Alexander.  I cannot make you a pawn in tedious century long grudges.  I wanted to ask you to leave with me, someplace far away, cloaked from seeking spells and vampire senses, just you and I, on a beach or in the mountains, by the lake.  I would not have cared, so long as it was you and I.  Alone, together.  Yet you and I do not have that luxury, it is not in our nature to hide from the world.

Forgive me my love, I know you will think me a coward, and I am because for you, I will always choose that which favors you.  You have my word that the House of Alexander will leave your land.  I will make every effort to encourage the other Houses follow suit.  If they do not, I do not ask that you make any special exceptions.  I am sorry that my being with you had contained that which you were bred to do, you are Lord Integra Hellsing, daughter of Sir Robert Hellsing, granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing, great granddaughter of Sir. Laurent Van Hellsing…A lineage devoted to ridding the world of the undead scourge.  I hope I have managed to let you know that not all of my breed are indeed a scourge.  Most of them are, that is hard to deny, but not all.

Please destroy this letter my love.  My public exclamation had to ensure there was no doubt in anyone's mind that you are no longer compromised by your affection for me.  The elders from my house will run and gossip and in no time, the world will be right again.  For everyone except you and I since my world without you is not right but it is a necessary state to let you live.

With all my love-

Camilla

"Damn you Camilla."  Hellsing sobbed as the tears started anew.  She sat in her office reading the letter and crying through the night.  Walter stood in the hallway leading to the office and turned back anyone who tried to approach throughout the night.

*-*-

_"Where is she!"_  Arucard demanded as he materialized into the large mausoleum that had served as Camilla's central operations.

The room full of whispering and laughing vampires all turned to stare at him.

_"Lady Camilla has not been seen since her departure from the Hellsing Manor Lord Arucard.  Is there something wrong?"_  One of the elders spoke, a smirk barely concealed.

Arucard fought the impulse to rip the smirk off their faces.  He could not even be sure why he cared so much.  He was furious with Camilla, although he was not sure why.  He knew this was coming she had as much as told him when last he saw her.  Maybe it was because he had thought she would do it privately, not in front of these idiot fawning sycophants.  Their smirks and whispers were all regaling the humiliation of his master.

_"There is nothing wrong, I merely wanted to ask what her future travel plans were."_  Arucard replied calmly.

_"I will contact her later."_  He said as he disappeared from the large, cold room.

He materialized outside and stood, perfectly still.  He concentrated on Camilla's essence, something he had perfected in the year of her absence, although then it had done him no good.  There…She was outside of the city.  He cocked his head, she was distraught but he could barely sense her anguish.  Someone was cloaking her.  Altena…Arucard snarled and shifted into his shadow form and took to the night sky.

He approached from the sky and saw the two vampires sitting on the wall.  He materialized before them.

Camilla straightened from her position.  Altena released her arm from around Camilla's shoulder.

Arucard saw the pain in Camilla's eyes, even as the mask of her indifference began to slip back into place.

_"Why did you follow me? Did I not make myself clear? Your obligation to your master remains intact."  _Camilla said, looking up at Arucard.

_"So you release me from my obligations to the House of Alexander?"  _Arucard asked in response.

"Is that what you wish, to be one of the rogues?  If that is what you want, I will release you.  Perhaps it is the better solution, to allow you to serve your master.  Your progeny, remember you asked that she too be given the protection of the House."  Camilla did not want to talk to Arucard.  She was jealous that after he left her, he could see Hellsing.  He would see Hellsing now and again tomorrow.  She fought the lump rising in her throat.

"Seras will make her own choice.  I am not asking to be disowned by the House of Alexander, I am asking only that my place in your court be removed.  A fair request I believe."  Arucard knew that this was not why he had followed her.  Yet, the brief flash of pain he saw in her eyes before the cool reserve was back in place made him realize that she had not done what she had done lightly.  That must be why Altena was cloaking her anguish.

"You still love her."  Arucard asked.

Camilla did not answer, she stood and began to move away.

"Do not walk away from me.  I am, was furious with you.  You did all of this on purpose.  You wanted our kind to spread the story, so the world would go back to what it was."  Arucard stepped in front of Camilla.

"I made it clear that I was done with that particular fancy, as you so love to refer to them."  Camilla finally said, not looking up at him.

Arucard stared at her and then looked over at Altena.  

"You will not betray her?"  Arucard said to Altena.

"I will not."  Altena replied.

Arucard looked back at Camilla.  He never could understand her, even everything she revealed to him, he could not understand her actions.  

"So, we are agreed.  I still serve the House of Alexander."  Arucard started to say.

"You serve Hellsing Organization first.  It is understood.'  Camilla answered, finally turning to look at him.

Arucard just nodded and shifted back into his shadow form and melted into the darkness now surrounding all of them.

"You chose not to tell him.  Yet, you told his progeny.  The young one."  Altena observed.

"No, I did not.  Had you not followed me, I would not have told you either."  Camilla replied simply.


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer information: All characters belong to their proper copyrighted owners.  The others are my creation.  See previous notes about Camilla.  Please use your own discretion in reading, as the content of the story will lead towards 'Yuri" and possibly lemon (I do not know the criteria of these definitions) which accounts for the R rating as there will be, in the upcoming chapters some violence and other adult themes.  I have not read the Manga and the assumptions regarding Arucard and his 'age' were based upon a now defunct fan site called "Intensity-Integral Shrine".  The name Altena is a nod to my other favorite anime, Noir, but is not actually based upon that character.  If you have not seen the following website Solid & Etc you should get there as soon as you can.  It is some of the most astonishing Hellsing inspired art I have ever seen.  Reviews and feedback are welcome.  Chapter 11 

****

Seras sat in the Silver Rolls Royce as it drove through the midnight dark streets of Paris.  Lord Hellsing sat beside her, smoking a cigarillo and gazing out the window.

It had been five years since Camilla had left London.  She never came back to speak to Hellsing, nor Seras for that matter.  Arucard never made mention of it either.  Camilla had kept her word, the House of Alexander had left London.  The other houses had followed suit shortly thereafter, and in no time, it was business as usual for the Hellsing organization.  Seras knew that Hellsing still wore the ring, on a chain around her neck, beneath her daily dress.

The shift had resulted in business as usual to the point that Integral Hellsing retreating firmly back behind her cold, hard exterior.  Even to the point that Seras was shut out, although, she kept her word to Camilla, she watched over Lord Hellsing, from the shadows, when she prowled through the manor at night.

A month ago, Altena had approached Seras after one of the missions for the FREAKS.  Seras could sense the powerful presence and knew it was not her master, who had dispatched the FREAKS and disappeared.

_"I come on behalf of your liege, Camilla."  _Altena had said.

Seras had startled at the greeting, then remembered there was a ritual around these things.  She couldn't remember exactly what should be said by way of response.

Altena had not cared, she delivered her message quickly and then disappeared.

"_Lady Camilla extends an invitation to Lord Hellsing to meet at Alexandre Chateau.  On the 15th of June, if she chooses not to attend, then that is her discretion.  Lady Camilla will only be there that day and that night."  _

Seras had debated on telling Hellsing, and even whether she should mention it to her master.  She had almost not said anything, except she knew, even after all this time, Hellsing would still go to the room, at the other end of the manor, where Camilla and she had stayed during their year together.  Seras didn't know what she did, she just knew how often Hellsing's wanderings took her there.

Seras finally told Hellsing and was surprised to find out how calmly Hellsing had listened and responded.

"Of course, have the arrangements made.  I will ask you to accompany me in the event this is some kind of trap.  Notify Walter of our intent, should anything happen, so he is prepared."  Hellsing said, exhaling the smoke from her cigarillo.

Now, here they were, driving through the dark night.  Seras sensed Altena moving alongside the vehicle.  She could not sense any others, which she thought was somewhat odd.

The car pulled into a driveway, the engine idling as it waited outside the large gates.  Soon after the gates opened and the car pulled forward, Seras could no longer sense Altena beside the vehicle.  She couldn't sense much of anything.

Integra stepped out of the car.  Her heart was pounding despite how calm she appeared on the outside.  Altena stood standing outside the main door leading into the chateau.

Seras stepped out behind her she raised her eyebrow when she saw Altena standing there.

"Lord Hellsing, Lady Camilla extends her appreciation.  If you will please enter, right through the foyer is the dining room.  She is waiting for you there."  Altena said, bowing her head slightly.

"May I check the area?"  Seras asked, she did not want to send Lord Hellsing into a trap.

"Of course."  Altena nodded and stepped aside.

Seras walked through the door and moved into the foyer.  She still couldn't sense anything in the large house.  She moved through the foyer, a short hallway and walked into the dining room.  She saw the figure standing by the roaring fire.  When the figure turned, Seras was looking at Camilla staring back at her.

"I am glad to see you."  Camilla smiled as she spoke.

Seras smiled in response.  Camilla.  It was really Camilla, from the warmth in her eyes, to that smile, that beautiful smile.

"Thank you Lady Camilla, I had to make sure the area was safe."  Seras replied.

"The chateau is safe hence, you cannot use your powers, you cannot sense us.  Five different mages guilds placed protections on this house, the last being the guild that healed me.  None of the council know of this house, none of the elders.  It is registered to an eccentric computer mogul.  Fascinating how many of those individuals came into such sudden fortunes."  Camilla said conversationally.

"I wondered about that.  I will inform Lord Hellsing…"  Seras paused and then said.

"She will be glad to see you."  Before she walked out.

Camilla watched her go, surprised at the sense of relief she felt.  Especially when Seras said that Hellsing was here.  Camilla's first thought when she saw Seras was that Seras had been sent with some polite but firm declination of the invitation.  

Camilla watched as Integra came through the hallway and into the room.  She was still as beautiful as Camilla remembered.  She had waited for this day since she had left Integra.  Even as she worked to create this place, as safe as she could make it, she had no idea if Integra would accept the invitation.

Integra stopped just inside the dining room.  Camilla, standing by the fire, gazing at her, Integra felt the pull in her stomach, seeing Camilla looking at her with those eyes.

"Lord Hellsing, thank you for coming.  I wasn't sure that you would."  Camilla said, smiling.

"I wasn't sure that I would either, quite honestly.  I am still angry with you."  Integra replied, resisting the urge to smile back.

"You have every right to be angry with me.  My display successfully headed off several considerations of attacks against you and your organizations.  No point in going after just a simple dalliance that was over."  Camilla answered, her smile waning slightly.

"Can I offer you some tea?  There is some food as well, in the kitchen, if you are hungry."  Camilla moved towards the table, where the tea set sat.  She wanted to keep the table between them because she wanted more than anything to wrap her arms around the blonde woman.

"Coward."  Integra said, not moving from her position.

"Yes."  Camilla answered, looking back up.

"Your whole life, a lifetime of centuries, and you run away from me?  You bow before the pressures of what might happen to me instead of loving me?"  Integra gave voice to the things that she had mulled over in the long nights since Camilla had left her.

"I never stopped loving you.  It was not an action I took lightly.  But as I said, I would rather…"

"Have had me alive and hating you than loving you and dead because of it.  I know.  You never asked me what I wanted.  You never asked me how I felt about the risk.  You don't think I hadn't thought about the balance of risks and the rewards of being loved by you?  Did you ever ask me what I wanted?  Instead, you blindsided me and left.  Left without even telling me goodbye."  Integra interrupted Camilla, finally moving towards the table.

Camilla didn't reply, she didn't want to answer.  She had no answer, she didn't discuss it with Integra because she knew that she could talk her out of it.

"So why did you call me here?"  Integra asked, sitting down in the chair, watching Camilla.  Just being near her again, seeing her so close, her heart was pounding in her ears.  As angry and hurt as she had been, still was, Camilla, here and now was all she wanted.

Camilla sat across from Integra.  She didn't want to answer, she didn't want to talk, she wanted to stare and drink her fill of the presence of the other woman.   So long she had envisioned this moment, she wanted to burn the image of the woman across from her into her mind.

Integra gazed back coolly.  She could feel the intensity of Camilla's gaze upon her and despite herself, she felt her pulse quickening beneath that gaze.

Moments passed, before Integra finally raised one brow quizzically.  Camilla smiled warmly in response.

"Forgive me, I was…I had forgotten how you could render me speechless with just a glance."  Camilla said.

"And I had forgotten how shamelessly flattering you could be."  Integra answered.

"There is nothing shameless in flattering the beauty of the sun, or the moon or the night sky."  Camilla winked.

"Your silver tongue is still as adept as ever.  Why did you ask me here?"  Integra asked again.

Camilla paused, and then, as she had imagined so many times, the words fell from her lips.

"I dare you."

Integra looked at her.  She wanted to stay angry she wanted to hold onto that hurt, instead Integra smiled as she stood from her seat.  She walked around the expanse of the table, as she neared Camilla, she spoke.

"You dare me?  What do you dare me to do?  Do I dare to…"  She paused as she stood before Camilla.  She gazed down into those dark eyes, she had missed her so much.

"Do this?"  She whispered as she bent down and placed her lips against Camilla's own.  Camilla sighed, as she tasted the sweet tenderness of Integra's lips.

"Or this?"  Integra asked as she lowered herself down and trailed kisses along Camilla's neck.

Camilla reached and twined her fingers into the long blonde hair and directed Integra back towards her lips.

"I dare you to do all of it."  Camilla whispered before covering Integra's lips with her own.

"This doesn't mean I forgive you."  Integra whispered in between the kisses.

"I know."  Camilla murmured back.

"I'll let you figure out how you're going to make it up to me."  Integra said smiling.

"Let me show you."  Camilla said, standing and swooping Hellsing into her arms and carrying her off towards one of the rooms on the main floor.

*-*-

Integra stretched in the luxurious bed.  She reached over and wrapped her arms around the still figure of Camilla.  She had wanted to stay angry but could not, all she wanted was to make up for the last 5 years that she had not been able to kiss, or touch or hold Camilla.

Camilla opened her dark eyes and smiled as she saw Integra's blue eyes gazing down at her.

"I have waited every day and night for the last 5 years for this moment."  She said, smiling as she leaned up to kiss Integra.

"Just this moment?  I thought there were several moments last night you might have been waiting for."  Integra murmured into the kiss.

"You know me too well my love."  Camilla responded.

Integra pulled back and stared at Camilla.  "So well that I know that as lovely as last night was, this was not a true reunion was it?"

Camilla sat up, the sheet falling away from her torso.  Integra noticed that the scars were all but invisible on her alabaster flesh.  The light caught the delicate chain around her neck.  Both women had laughed at the ring the other wore on a chain around their necks.

"Ever the pragmatist.  Yes, you are right, I had this place, and several others, shielded in as many ways as I could think of and more.  Is it so wrong to wish that I can at least spend some time with the woman I love? Away from prying, vengeful jealous eyes?"  Camilla asked softly.  She knew that she had no real future to offer Integra, so long as they each bore the responsibilities of their positions.

Integra sat up and wrapped her arms around Camilla's shoulders.  She placed her head against Camilla's lean muscled back.

"I will take what time I can steal with you.  I have missed you with every breath the last 5 years.  I think I have quite a bit of holiday time accrued."  Integra responded.

Camilla clasped Integra's hands in her own.  "You give me more than I deserve."

Integra began to slide her hands down towards Camilla's chest.  She repositioned herself so she was sitting beside the vampire woman.  "I don't think we have discovered what all I can give you."  She said with a wink.

"Is that a fact?"  Camilla replied, her own hands beginning their own movement.

"Oh yes…Absolutely."  Integra said, leaning forward to kiss Camilla again.


	13. Epilogue

Disclaimer information: All characters belong to their proper copyrighted owners.  The others are my creation.  See previous notes about Camilla.  If you have not seen the following website Solid & Etc you should get there as soon as you can.  It is some of the most astonishing Hellsing inspired art I have ever seen.  Reviews and feedback are welcome.  Thank you for reading J  Epilogue 

Integra opened the package sitting on the table, she had recognized the return address as one of the homes she 'vacationed' at.

Despite herself, a smile began to form.  It was rare for Camilla to try and contact her through conventional mediums.

No one, not even Arucard, had inquired too deeply regarding her business travel of late.  It was not as often as she would have liked but at least once a month, Hellsing traveled to one of the several homes Camilla had established.  She wasn't sure how long they could continue but she had no intention of ending it anytime soon.

Integra's brow furrowed as she opened the package.  There was a sealed stainless steel container.  It looked like the kind used to transport specimens.  She picked up the card setting atop it.

My love-

When we meet again, I can explain further.  I debated going forward with this action, but since it has already been determined of the two of us, I am the more cowardly, I am sending this package to you and leaving the choice in your more than capable hands.

The mages have informed me that the guild Herod employed had indeed performed some 'live experiments' on human subjects.  While I cannot in any way condone their methods, the results I have been informed of are intriguing to say the least.

The canister contains a sample of my blood.  I have been told that if my blood is ingested without the subject being drained, there is an interesting result.  Humans appear to achieve a benefit of increased immune systems and, while not enough years have passed to confirm clearly, slowed aging.

You know why I would inform you of this, there does not appear to be much more benefit than the items I mentioned above.  No transformation into a creature, no craving for blood.  I have already agreed to assist the mages guild in exploring manifesting some easily dispersed form to aid in treating illnesses.  The net effect is inconsistent with regard to the slowed aging, although the immune system enhancement appears valid.  It is still not, I have been told, the panacea for all forms of illness that plague your species.

You once gave your blood to restore me back to health.  This blood I give to you, in a manner of speaking, would complete the blood between us bond that you spoke of to me, once, long ago.  Of course, I am available for a live implementation if you prefer.  

I trust that you will use your discretion, none save the mage heads who have conferred this information to me are aware of this.

I look forward to our next meeting, and would be lying if I did not tell you I was counting the moments until I can see you again.

With all my love-

Camilla

Integra read the letter once more before lighting the corner of the card with her lighter.  She held it by the tip and angled until sure the whole thing would burn.  She set the flaming card into an ash-tray and pulled out a cigarillo to light.  

"Indeed."  She murmured, inhaling on the cigarillo, watching the card burn to ash.


End file.
